Coventry Co-operative Societies

We used the one in Radford, just down from Jubilee Crescent. My mum sent me off from Beak Avenue with a list when I couldn't have been much more than 8 or 9. Our Co-op number was 62320. Why is it I can remember that and not some of the important things I need to keep in mind?

I'll have a quarter of the Cheshire cheese please, my favourite. At that price of course !

Hello, I can remember my mum's Co-op number easily now, as my Pam took it on, 54995. I used to dread going to the Co-op, the one in Watersmeet Rd, in case I couldn't remember the number. Life was so complicated then, Hey!

I was sent to the Watersmeet Rd Co-op when I was 10 for cigarettes during rationing and shortages so that my dad could keep a few customers happy when he had run out of supplies at his shop in Wyken Way. Things were tough then.

Same as so many kids of the era, round about age 9 or 10, used to be sent to the Coop if Wallace Road shops didn't have what was needed, then it was correct money in my pocket and a short list and off to the Coop on the corner of Norman Place road and Brownshill Green to get what was needed. Strange how so many remember their number. Ours was 44117. There and back home in fifteen minutes with the shopping.

How come I can remember my co-op number from years ago but have problems with my cursed 'pass words' on the computer. Grrrrrrr !

Yes, it's known as a Lamson Cash tube we had them at John Manners in the upper Precinct! I remember our family's Co-op number: 24609 and my Nan's 42996.

The Co, as we always called it was a very popular shop in our family. My grandmother was a member of Lockhurst Lane Co-op from before the First World War and my mother joined in the 1930's. When my mum was growing up in the 1920's, she would often be sent with a pair of boots to the cobblers in Bell Green for repair. With a family of 14 to look after, 'make do and mend' was the only way to live. The cobbler would 'put it on the slate' knowing that when the Co-op dividend was paid, he would be the first to be paid from it. I remember visiting the Co-op emporium on the corner of Foleshill Road and Holmsdale Road when I was about 4 or 5 and thought it was huge. I was a bit scared of the cage lift to start with but I quite liked it as I got a bit older because when I was tall enough to reach the handles, I was the 'lift man', as my dad allowed me to open and close the gates and push the buttons. My mum always used the stairs, she didn't like lifts. I loved watching the vacuum cash tubes operating but always wondered where they went. Like many, I was sent to get a few things from the Co when I was about 9 or 10. Red milk checks were one of the things I had to get and the assistant would always put them in a little paper bag. Our local was in Sewell Highway. My mum always asked me what her 'divi 'number was before I went (it was one of the first things that I remember learning). It was a four digit number but I won't tell you what it was, as nearly 70 years later I still use it as a PIN. Happy days.

Hi Turner, welcome to the forum Quite a few members remember their Co-Op number

I love the idea of using the co-op number as a password - I remember it clear as a bell. Years ago I was at a reunion at Warwick and sat next to a guy who worked for one of the big banks. He told me that if I ever found a credit card in the UK I could probably get some money if I used 1066 as the password.

Hello, I have a formula for registering passwords, but obviously I can't share it. I did use 54896 in early passwords before the onset of integrated internet usage.