March 7, 2026 • 6 mins
This week on In My Day caller Anna reminisced about pneumatic tubes, also known as Lamson Tubes, in department stores, and their modern-day use in emergency departments.
Pneumatic transportation was invented around 1800 and was used in offices to transport small packages and mail, but were largely phased out of stores in the 1970's.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You said being Tomorrow Experience A nine eleven twenty eight,
Anna High.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh Hi, I just wanted to talk about the department
stores and the lamps and tubes because I come from
christ Church and I still remember Mum taking it to
Valentine's and we'd get to sit on a I had
these really high chairs there at the counter. Yeah, and
(00:41):
so as kids, we used to sit on them and
that was a really big treat. And then they'd send
the lamps and tubes up and as everyone's talked about that,
that would happen. And they used to have this massively
wise staircase that went down to a lunch room and
then from there you walk through this plush carpeted area
(01:04):
into the powder room. I still remember that. It was
also it was so grand.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, And what decade was this for you?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, I guess it would have been late sixties, early seventies. Yes, yeah,
but I'm a nurse and I and we still have
lamps and tubes.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Oh okay, yeah, so we use.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Them in the emergency department. We've got one and recess
at all. Sure, And we've got a lamps and tube
at Y Tech and ED.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Oh really okay, And so how often are they used?
Is it a daily thing?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Oh, I'll use them all the time. So if we
were sending off bloods, especially urgent bloods, because they are
all urgent bloods from ED, we just put the urgent blood.
We just put the bloods on the lamps and tube
and you just punch and we're you're sending them too,
and then off they go. And then randomly empty canisters
(02:05):
come back, and you take the empty canisters out and
pile them up, you know, like really for the next
time you want to see blood.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So yeah, so they'll be there'll be like tubes of
blood going like flying over the hospital and then in
the magic tubes.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Everything except blood guesses. I think we have to send
them to regard. And I'm not an ED nurse any transit,
but we're in and out of d all the time.
But yeah, but I don't actually do it anymore. Yeah,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I don't know why it appeals to me so much.
Maybe part of it is that somehow it's passed me
by until tonight, and I apologize profusely if that's you know,
not good enough, but that that I find it exciting,
you know, And I guess it's because a lot of
people have memories of them that from childhood where there
(02:57):
is kind of this sense of wonder. If you grow
up in an era where you know, you're watching people
be teleported on like say Star Trek, that that having
this little kind of I know it's not magic, but
for a child's mind of something pinging from one part
of a store to another and then back again is
actually quite exciting.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's very cool. It's very very cool, and it's funny
actually because those early things that you experienced then if
you go on to have a connection in your job,
like at Christis Hospital we had them too where I trained,
and I don't know, I presume all the other hospitals
still have lamps and tubes as well, because the fastest
(03:41):
way to get your bloods to the lab. But yeah,
it is weird because it's the only probably it's the
last bastion, you know. I don't know whether anyone else
uses them.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, yeah, Well, so when were they invented? Eighteen fifties
was when the patent happened at eighteen fifty four.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Well they used to be glass right all and now
they're plastic and you just and they've just got a
little swing top on them. Yeah, black plastic swing top
and they're still clear. Because you want to know that
when you put your bloods in there and your request form,
you know, you want to see it and then you've
seen it off. Yeah, because sometimes you forget to see
(04:27):
it off, you know. But I mean that happens, or
it doesn't always go. So if somebody comes along, they
want to be able to see what's in the lantern tube.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, well, look I want to see one in action,
so I'll have to you have to go on there.
Next time I'm in the hospital, I'll be saying, sorry, look,
I know I'm very ill, but can can I have
a look at the tubes please? Different sort of tubes,
but the I've seen that Maya in Australia they offer
(04:55):
behind the scenes tours which include seeing the tube system.
So I can't really imagine anyone doing it behind the
scenes tour of Maya and Australia. There's so much to
see in Australia. Let's go behind the scenes tour of
the department store that we can do a in front
of the scenes tour of as well. It's called shopping
(05:17):
but but yes, you could do it behind the scenes
tour of Maya.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Just one other thing I am. When I had my
first child, used to be able to go to Saint
Luke's and you got free. They could go to a
play area, a little creation and Saint Luke's you've got
a freend thing. You might have got two hours. It
was just amazing. It's a shopping wall. Well.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Saint Luke's was was pretty international when it first opened.
That's that's my impression of it was that that New
Zealanders thought, wow, the world has really come to us
now that we have some Lukes. And that's when it
was about half the size and when you go there
now it's it's not that big, but nice to have
(06:07):
you one here.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I did think you of the call for more from
News Talk st B. Listen live on air or online,
and keep our shows with you wherever you go with
our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks be follow
this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
You said being Tomorrow Experience A nine eleven twenty eight,
Anna High.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Oh Hi, I just wanted to talk about the department
stores and the lamps and tubes because I come from
christ Church and I still remember Mum taking it to
Valentine's and we'd get to sit on a I had
these really high chairs there at the counter. Yeah, and
(00:41):
so as kids, we used to sit on them and
that was a really big treat. And then they'd send
the lamps and tubes up and as everyone's talked about that,
that would happen. And they used to have this massively
wise staircase that went down to a lunch room and
then from there you walk through this plush carpeted area
(01:04):
into the powder room. I still remember that. It was
also it was so grand.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, And what decade was this for you?
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Well, I guess it would have been late sixties, early seventies. Yes, yeah,
but I'm a nurse and I and we still have
lamps and tubes.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Oh okay, yeah, so we use.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Them in the emergency department. We've got one and recess
at all. Sure, And we've got a lamps and tube
at Y Tech and ED.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Oh really okay, And so how often are they used?
Is it a daily thing?
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Oh, I'll use them all the time. So if we
were sending off bloods, especially urgent bloods, because they are
all urgent bloods from ED, we just put the urgent blood.
We just put the bloods on the lamps and tube
and you just punch and we're you're sending them too,
and then off they go. And then randomly empty canisters
(02:05):
come back, and you take the empty canisters out and
pile them up, you know, like really for the next
time you want to see blood.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
So yeah, so they'll be there'll be like tubes of
blood going like flying over the hospital and then in
the magic tubes.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
Everything except blood guesses. I think we have to send
them to regard. And I'm not an ED nurse any transit,
but we're in and out of d all the time.
But yeah, but I don't actually do it anymore. Yeah,
I don't.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
I don't know why it appeals to me so much.
Maybe part of it is that somehow it's passed me
by until tonight, and I apologize profusely if that's you know,
not good enough, but that that I find it exciting,
you know, And I guess it's because a lot of
people have memories of them that from childhood where there
(02:57):
is kind of this sense of wonder. If you grow
up in an era where you know, you're watching people
be teleported on like say Star Trek, that that having
this little kind of I know it's not magic, but
for a child's mind of something pinging from one part
of a store to another and then back again is
actually quite exciting.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
It's very cool. It's very very cool, and it's funny
actually because those early things that you experienced then if
you go on to have a connection in your job,
like at Christis Hospital we had them too where I trained,
and I don't know, I presume all the other hospitals
still have lamps and tubes as well, because the fastest
(03:41):
way to get your bloods to the lab. But yeah,
it is weird because it's the only probably it's the
last bastion, you know. I don't know whether anyone else
uses them.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah, yeah, Well, so when were they invented? Eighteen fifties
was when the patent happened at eighteen fifty four.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
Well they used to be glass right all and now
they're plastic and you just and they've just got a
little swing top on them. Yeah, black plastic swing top
and they're still clear. Because you want to know that
when you put your bloods in there and your request form,
you know, you want to see it and then you've
seen it off. Yeah, because sometimes you forget to see
(04:27):
it off, you know. But I mean that happens, or
it doesn't always go. So if somebody comes along, they
want to be able to see what's in the lantern tube.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, well, look I want to see one in action,
so I'll have to you have to go on there.
Next time I'm in the hospital, I'll be saying, sorry, look,
I know I'm very ill, but can can I have
a look at the tubes please? Different sort of tubes,
but the I've seen that Maya in Australia they offer
(04:55):
behind the scenes tours which include seeing the tube system.
So I can't really imagine anyone doing it behind the
scenes tour of Maya and Australia. There's so much to
see in Australia. Let's go behind the scenes tour of
the department store that we can do a in front
of the scenes tour of as well. It's called shopping
(05:17):
but but yes, you could do it behind the scenes
tour of Maya.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Just one other thing I am. When I had my
first child, used to be able to go to Saint
Luke's and you got free. They could go to a
play area, a little creation and Saint Luke's you've got
a freend thing. You might have got two hours. It
was just amazing. It's a shopping wall. Well.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Saint Luke's was was pretty international when it first opened.
That's that's my impression of it was that that New
Zealanders thought, wow, the world has really come to us
now that we have some Lukes. And that's when it
was about half the size and when you go there
now it's it's not that big, but nice to have
(06:07):
you one here.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
I did think you of the call for more from
News Talk st B. Listen live on air or online,
and keep our shows with you wherever you go with
our podcasts on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Hey Jonas!
Hey Jonas! The official Jonas Brothers podcast. Hosted by Kevin, Joe, and Nick Jonas. It’s the Jonas Brothers you know... musicians, actors, and well, yes, brothers. Now, they’re sharing another side of themselves in the playful, intimate, and irreverent way only they can. Spend time with the Jonas Brothers here and stay a little bit longer for deep conversations like never before.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com