tommy shop
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
A shop where vouchers, given by an employer in lieu of money, can be exchanged for goods; commonly run by large employers of labour before the truck system was made illegal.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “tommy shop” mean?
A shop where vouchers, given by an employer in lieu of money, can be exchanged for goods; commonly run by large employers of labour before the truck system was made illegal.
Is “tommy shop” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.