Rhodri Marsden's Interesting Objects: The cash dispenser

The cash dispenser was invented 48 years ago by John Shepherd-Barron, then the managing director of banknote printers De La Rue

The machines were six feet high and five feet wide, cost £3,200 each to manufacture (Getty Images)

* It was 48 years ago today when crowds gathered in Market Place, Enfield, north London. Television cameras began to roll. Actor Reg Varney, best known for his role in the ITV sitcom On The Buses, stood alongside Sir Thomas Bland, then deputy chairman of Barclays Bank. A number of attempts were made by Sir Thomas to withdraw money from the new "Barclaycash" machine, but without success. So an employee of the bank, Ron Everett, nipped inside and pushed a £10 note into the dispenser. The press got their picture and further embarrassment was averted.

* John Shepherd-Barron, then the managing director of banknote printers De La Rue, had the idea for an ATM (Automated Teller Machine) while sitting in the bath. Having failed to get to the bank in time to withdraw money earlier that day, he figured that there must be a better way. His subsequent pitch to Barclays went swimmingly. "If you can build them," said chief general manager Harold Darvill, "I'll buy them."

* The machines, six feet high and five feet wide, cost £3,200 each to manufacture. In that pre-debit card age, you got your money by feeding in a £10 voucher that was punched with dots corresponding to your four-digit PIN. The vouchers were tested for authenticity using a built-in Geiger counter, having been impregnated with a radioactive compound – but according to Shepherd-Barron, you'd have had to eat 136,000 vouchers for them to do you any damage.

* "Whatever next!" ran the advert. "This is Barclaycash machine, the first of its kind in the world." Enfield was chosen for the test run because Market Place would provide room for the expected queues. A plaque to commemorate the ATM was unveiled in 1992. It reads: "Lives made much easier."

@rhodri