The Allandale Branch of the Longcroft Cooperative Society was opened for business in 1914 and continued until 1958 when it was sold and converted into housing accommodation.
The dividend for members was calculated by the amount of plastic tokens they had purchased. The tokens were from 1/2d up to 10/- and heaven help you if you paid for anything with cash and therefore did not get any dividend for that purchase.
The co-op or ‘store’ as it was called, sold practically everything you could require from paraffin to clothing, fruit and vegetables, groceries, sweets and even carbide for the miners lamps.
It was also possible to buy your furniture from the store. You got a line to take through to the Wholesale Co-op in Glasgow who had a large selection to pick from.
The Longcroft and Bonnybridge Co-ops also sold merchandise from vans. They had butcher vans and bakery vans. Some came every day and others once a week. The post office and shop, called “the Dairy”, sold sweets, lemonade, called “ginger”, cigarettes and tobacco plus other small items.
There were two hardware traders with vans who visited the village once a week. They were a type of “Open All Hours” on wheels. They were Marshalls and McKenzie. They sold every possible household supplies you could ask for. One type of trader who has vanished from the scene was the man with the suitcase who went from door to door selling clothing.
There was a man from Cumbernauld called Watson and the other went under the name of “Johnny the Jew”. They seemed to make a good living from this type of trading as they were part of the scene for many years. I seems quite funny now to think of these men with their big cases pulling out items of women’s underwear and displaying them on people’s doorsteps.
The unforgettable Alex “Sanny” Pollock came round the village selling fruit and vegetables usually in the evening. He had a yard at Greenhill. He offered a personal service, going into the house, getting their order and then delivering it.
After the war, the ice cream vans appeared. usually on a Friday evening after the workers had been paid. One of them from Glasgow was called Coia and he had a flashy American van.
There was also a local ice cream manufacturer at Longcroft called Gentles who traded under the name “Dairymaid”. He manufactured ice cream and ice lollies, called “Icicles”, from a small farm steading. There were two coal merchants who came round the houses each week and people selling briquettes which were fabricated blocks of coal dust.
Bill Salmond, who farmed at South Woodend Farm, sold milk each day from his horse-drawn cart. Some of the women in the district paid a visit once a week to the many shops in Falkirk.
