A search on the Internet happened to drop upon a selection of "Garlick's Cash Stores Hesketh Bank" tokens for sale by a coin dealer. We decided to buy the coins, bring them home and find out what they were for later.

Garlick's Store was located on Shore Road just after Guide road on the right when traveling towards the School. Many people have commented on there being an old hand cranked petrol pump on the pavement, the shop being dark and smelling of paraffin and candles.

Most thought the tokens to be a form of loyalty reward in place until the 1930's (perhaps by way of combating the impact of the Co-Op dividend). An extract from the Southport Visitor (November 3rd 1995) supports this theory with Keith Garlick, grandson of the shop owner, quoted as saying "I believe they were given as dividend tokens similar to CoOp stamps" Ted Bramwell, who grew up yards away from the shop, is also quoted in the same article; "when you took pop bottles and jam jars back to the shop you got one of these Garlick pennies, and when you spent a certain amount in the store, you got a Garlick shilling. Families would save the Garlick pennies and shillings up for a special treat."

Surprisingly, the Garlick's Cash Store Tokens often appear for sale on the internet, selling at around £2.50 for an average example and up to £4.00 each for very fine examples.

Do you know different or have any comments or photos of Garlick's shop please get in touch.

More Local History