Early charge system.

The individual slips were hand written and filed under the customer's number. At night the file could be closed, locked and it was fire proof. As a child I remember my mother shopping at Carlin's grocery and this was the system they used. At the end of the month Mother would go in and they would pull all her charge slips total them up and she would pay this amount. In some areas the charges would only be totaled when the crops came in and were sold.