40 SPOKE MOTORCYCLE WHEELS

About 7 years ago I went shopping at Steel City Surplus in Hamilton. I go there - well... about every 7 years to stock up on stuff and usually if I need a motor for a light show. I needed a motor for a light show (this weekend: thee Gnostics land in Toronto, Earth!) so I went there today - but back to 7 years ago...

About 7 years ago I bought 54 items and some of those items included multiples like 4 blocks of plastic and seven clamps. I had a cart and wheeled it up to the counter and said... I'll take it all for $100 bucks. She laughed and proceeded to ring in the items while I discussed what I was going to do with the two foot long screwdriver. Being a mad inventor, I had bought lots of test tubes and magnets and whatnot. Well... ring cajing... $100.00 total! We whooped like we won the lottery!

Fast forward to today. I picked up my two motors, then wandered over to the other side and considered some Plexiglas - nope - so I went back through all the rows, picking stuff up putting it down, getting some staples... three or four different balls of string and twine, then got to the isle with gloves. I quarterback in winter football and currently use a yellow rubber glove over a thin glove for my throwing hand. It works great but the other guys all have these $80 gloves and I sort of feel - well like I usually do... sort of smug that I did not pay $80 and seem to get along. But, they had these work gloves dipped in rubber and gardening gloves too so I picked up a few pairs of each. At this point, I gave up and went and got a shopping cart. Right... back around and got boot socks, etc.

I went up to the counter and said... "oh... too bad the lady I had last time just went on break." I was wanting to ask her if she remembered me... anyway, I told the other cashier, "Last time I was here I said I would take everything for $100"... she interrupted thinking that was all I was going to say, and said "yeah... it doesn't work that way". I said... "Well, it did! It was exactly $100 decimal 00 dollars. But this one won't be that much so I will take it all for $50."

She laughed a little and proceeded to ring in the items. Then she said, "well... unless you are back there with a calculator...." The total was $50 decimal 00. She started saying "twilight zone". I was stunned. I still am stunned. This is a story I will tell all my life!

This picture shows the two receipts. I posted the first one years ago along with a story - can't remember where the story is but the image was called receipt.gif on my server.

Click the all sizes icon above the picture to see it bigger...

-30-

Kelham Island Museum stands on a man-made island over 900 years old. It is one of the oldest industrial sites in Sheffield. The island was first formed in the 1100s when the goit, or mill stream, was created alongside the lane leading to where the museum stands today. This stream was diverted to provide water to the Town Corn Mill, which was located near Lady's Bridge.

There are no further records of the site until the appearance of the town armourer in 1637. He owned a workshop and the second waterwheel on the island, and his name was Kellam Homer. By 1674, this second wheel was known as Kellam Wheel. The spelling of Kellam had been altered to Kelham by the early 1800s and the island had been given the same name.

Industries sprang up in the early 1800s in the Kelham area. Kelham Island itself became a host for all kinds of manufacturers. In 1829, John Crowley bought land on the island and built a small iron foundry called Kelham Iron Works. He made all kinds of iron products - bicycles, corn grinders, lawn mowers, as well as decorative iron works. His business was so successful that he acquired larger premises at Meadow Hall in 1870. The Kelham Iron Works continued until the 1890s when the site was bought by the City.

Crowley's old foundry buildings were demolished and in their place an electricity generating station was built, solely to provide power for the City's new trams. The power station was in operation until the 1930s, and the buildings were used thereafter as storage space and workshops. These buildings now house the collections, displays and workshops of Kelham Island Museum.