This film is part of Free
A Date with Decimals
How Tesco employees got to grips with new money on the eve of 'D-Day'.
Overview
15 February 1971 was billed as the 1970s' very own 'D-Day' - the day on which the old £sd was replaced by the present decimal currency system. This training film was produced to prepare Tesco staff at the sharp end, with diagrammatic explanations and in-store footage to clarify and reassure - set against references to panic and chaos awaiting the decimal-unready.
The fact that the sole surviving print has suffered serious colour fading serves to reinforce the downbeat, faintly unreal atmosphere of this film. As an internal corporate production, it's an interesting complement to the several official information films produced about decimalisation. Glimpses of 1971 grocery shelves (with 1971 prices) add extra period fascination.
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