Historical information

The wooden pricing stamps are part of the 'Mann' collection at the Wodonga Historical Society and were used in the J. Mann & Sons General Store in Wodonga High Street, prior to the introduction of the decimal currency in Australia in 1966.
J. Mann and Sons was first established as a farm produce store in 1921. The range of products was extended in the 1930s and included groceries and hardware, as well as the first petrol bowser in Wodonga outside the store. After WWII, the premises were extended and the range of products continued to increase.
In the 1960s the Mann Family opened a new supermarket in Wodonga, in addition to the hardware business, providing steel, plumbing and industrial supplies, and they employed over 100 people at one stage.
With changes in the retail industry, the Mann Family sold the main hardware business to Bunnings and the produce business to the Kelly brothers in 2006.

Significance

The collection of wooden pre-decimal pricing stamps have local significance due to their use in the J. Mann & Sons General Store in High St, Wodonga pre-1966, and their association with the prominent Mann family in Wodonga. They also have national and international significance as examples of the use of the pre-decimal currency system in commerce/local businesses.

Physical description

Six wooden pre-decimal pricing stamps from the J. Mann & Sons General Store, Wodonga which are part of a large collection of wooden pricing stamps. The pre-decimal prices are printed in black on a circular white background at one end and at the other end, the embossed/raised price is used for the stamp. The letter 'd' in some of the prices stands for pence and comes from the Latin 'denarius.

Inscriptions & markings

Pre-decimal prices.