"Investments" BAOR. Can anyone jog my memory?

[monkey123]

One of these was investing in paintings, which were going to be worth millions. I cant for the life of me remember who the artist was,

Rolf Harris ?

 

[bob_the_bomb]

What was that stuff you put on in an emergency and you got instant shine? A clear
liquid but it stunk.

Trouble is if it rained they turned white, that was a twat to get off and actually ruined your boots, can’t remember the stuff now.

You’re thinking of ‘Klear’ floor varnish.

Only it didn’t turn white when wet. That was a calumny circulated by woodentop DS.

It did make white cracks though if you used on the bendy bits.

Toecaps and heels only...

 

[bob_the_bomb]

They certainly did. Every German house you went into had one.
Don't recall one like that, though. Most were darker wood and rather bigger with some ornate carvings on them.
Shudder....

And a drop door cocktail cabinet.

And a space for a TV.

And a ******* fish tank...

 

[RangdoOfArg]

Bloody great German heavy-style sideboard type things, with a mixture of shelves, cupboards and glazed panels. Sort of Welsh dresser on steroids.

Edited to add: Google translates "schrank" to " cabinet".

On moving/posting, schranks were (like lots of furniture) swapped, or gifted, or bought for a handful of DM.
Like the rest of the U.K., Mrs R has been permanently working from home, and finding the laptop on the kitchen table irksome. So a while back we had a look for a desk.
We had a look in a BHF furniture place and whilst nosing around I noticed a couple of 1970/80s schranks. Before black ash became cool. They were in surprisingly good nick. Someone in the shop must know what they are doing as one shelf had a charming set of schnapps glasses. The glasses had the Minden coat of arms with “Minden 19XX” underneath*, which was a nice touch. Mrs R must have caught the look I have shortly before I make an impulsive purchase as she dragged me away.
We didn’t find a desk, BTW.
*at least I’m guessing it was the Minden coat of arms. I’m no expert in German heraldry. Could be a wild guess.

 

[Harry Clampers]

What was that stuff you put on in an emergency and you got instant shine? A clear
liquid but it stunk.

Trouble is if it rained they turned white, that was a twat to get off and actually ruined your boots, can’t remember the stuff now.

Dual.

 

[RangdoOfArg]

Amway popped up in Hillingdon Division of the Met Police in the mid to late nineties. We had a number of guys who were into it. They were obsessed with it. They were like a cult similar to the Moonies. They were all going to get rich and become millionaires. I think they had to pay a hefty joining fee to an area manager who generally was also in the Met and they were given their starter packs and flip charts.

The only person I knew who ever bought any of their cleaning products was a civilian police staff office worker. She said the stuff was 'shit.' It didn't stop them though, they were obssesed. They were all going to retire early having made their fortunes. Everybody use to laugh at them and take the piss and tell them that their stuff was shit. It was funny when they got really upset. When one of them met up with another it was like members of a secret society meeting each other. They even outdid the Masons in the CID.

We had a lad who was tenured to us, back in uniform after 18 years in CID. He had previously been dealing with murder enquires. Really switched on bloke. He wasn't too bothered about the change in status he said as he was going to make far more self employed in a buisness he owned. He waffled on about buisness and buisness techniques when I said to him jokingly "what do you sell, Amway's"? He said "yes" all seriously and got all upset when I fell off my seat in uncontrollable laughter. He later took a job as a 'Home Beat' in Hayes (the armpit of the world) rather than resume his career in the CID.

I left Hillingdon in 1999, and after spending a year in Chelsea, spent 12 years in Brent for my sins. I never heard anything about Amways again.

When I was a copper in the 1990s the big thing was penny/small outlay share speculation. These companies were mainly going to strike it rich in oil/metals/a portion of the sea bed somewhere. I’ve always been a bit sceptical of these things, but I got a new shift partner (I know! A shift of two!) who had joined from the banking sector and warned me right off.
I don’t think anyone bet the house on it, but no one made money either.
To me it seemed like a mania for speculation where level-headed people you would trust your life with went a bit soft.

 

[par avion]

When I was a copper in the 1990s the big thing was penny/small outlay share speculation. These companies were mainly going to strike it rich in oil/metals/a portion of the sea bed somewhere. I’ve always been a bit sceptical of these things, but I got a new shift partner (I know! A shift of two!) who had joined from the banking sector and warned me right off.
I don’t think anyone bet the house on it, but no one made money either.
To me it seemed like a mania for speculation where level-headed people you would trust your life with went a bit soft.

In the late eighties I remember seeing letters from the Nigerian Oil Minister asking if anybody wanted to buy cheap shares in the Nigerian oil industry. Amazingly a few British buisnessmen fell for it. Oh how i larfed. And I had less than a years service at that stage.

 

[stacker1]

When I was a copper in the 1990s the big thing was penny/small outlay share speculation. These companies were mainly going to strike it rich in oil/metals/a portion of the sea bed somewhere. I’ve always been a bit sceptical of these things, but I got a new shift partner (I know! A shift of two!) who had joined from the banking sector and warned me right off.
I don’t think anyone bet the house on it, but no one made money either.
To me it seemed like a mania for speculation where level-headed people you would trust your life with went a bit soft.

Penny shares were okay if you didnt take it too seriously, it was just a small gamble for most people, Amazon stock was was a 1.5 dollars in 1997, not shares but bitcoin was literally trading for less than a tenth of a cent at one point, but for every big win there are thousands that crash and burn.
Those touting penny shares are normally those who make charges for buying and selling them for you. Not to bad if its a fixed fee and you are buying/selling a large amounts of normal shares, a bit shit if you are dealing with small amounts of penny shares.

 

[kelvin_273]

I bet the removal bods were really, really careful with you gear

The cûnts were far from careful. The shrank was battered to fook when it arrived at my mums and an LP carrying case with 25 albums inside was diffi.
The removal firm was called Hoults, lots of people used them in the seventies.

 

[exbluejob]

They certainly did. Every German house you went into had one.
Don't recall one like that, though. Most were darker wood and rather bigger with some ornate carvings on them.
Shudder....

The old style ones were dark wood with carvings and fairly oppressive. You could get more modern ones, one of mine was similarish. The quarters I had lended themselves to them, large with high ceiling. The other pieces of furniture they loved were tables with tiled tops

 

[Gout Man]

Dual.

Doesn’t ring a bell.

 

[Gout Man]

You’re thinking of ‘Klear’ floor varnish.

Only it didn’t turn white when wet. That was a calumny circulated by woodentop DS.

It did make white cracks though if you used on the bendy bits.

Toecaps and heels only...

That’s the stuff, I wonder if it’s still used or even made.

 

[RangdoOfArg]

The old style ones were dark wood with carvings and fairly oppressive. You could get more modern ones, one of mine was similarish. The quarters I had lended themselves to them, large with high ceiling. The other pieces of furniture they loved were tables with tiled tops


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View attachment 525439

The coffee table!
I had one like that for many years. Eventually it had to go...
The horror! The horror!

 

[ExREME.TECH]

The cûnts were far from careful. The shrank was battered to fook when it arrived at my mums and an LP carrying case with 25 albums inside was diffi.
The removal firm was called Hoults, lots of people used them in the seventies.

You forgot the funny on my post fella

 

[exbluejob]

The coffee table!
I had one like that for many years. Eventually it had to go...
The horror! The horror!

We all had them, it was the same law which said the first thing you did on opening a local bank account was to get a loan for a new tax free car.

 

[RangdoOfArg]

We all had them, it was the same law which said the first thing you did on opening a local bank account was to get a loan for a new tax free car.

I just bought cars from the lads in the squadron. You know, the lads that need to make room for their new tax free car.
It allowed me the extra cash for hideous German furniture.

 

[AfghanAndy]

Mensing! That's the fella. Cheers

Help with painting bought in Germany

HI, I am after any info on this painting I have inherited. Bought in Germany in the early 1970's when my dad was posted out there. I can't find anything on the internet about it. It needs a good clean and was wondering if it is valuable enough to spend anything to get it cleaned. Many thanks...

community.ebay.com

 

[Harry Clampers]

Doesn’t ring a bell.

Used it in the 70s to put a shine on my boots. Until it rained.

 

[JuniorBod]

The old style ones were dark wood with carvings and fairly oppressive. You could get more modern ones, one of mine was similarish. The quarters I had lended themselves to them, large with high ceiling. The other pieces of furniture they loved were tables with tiled tops


View attachment 525438

View attachment 525439

I had that schrank, kept going from mid 80s to mid 00s, didn't have the fecking awful coffee table though....

JB

 

[Wightsparker]

I recall visiting a large store near Verden which contained appalling furniture. I went with ex-wife and children because I had been told that we could buy stuff tax-free - well, you could, but the process seemed complex to me and we didn't really fancy any of the goods on offer. I think the place was called Dodenhof, and the tax you could claim back was Mehr Wert Steuer - in effect VAT.

I can certainly remember people buying the paintings already discussed on the thread; we didn't really like them, despite the hype about being investments.