One of the things I really dig about Columbo is the way episodes are a window into what life was like in LA in the 1970s.

In the episode in which Columbo gets his car repaired and borrows the mechanic's tow truck (Candidate for a Crime...i do believe) he is surprised at the cost of the repairs and doesn't have his checkbook or enough cash. So he asks the mechanic if he can use some other check writing thing inside the shop.

What was that? How could you use it to pay? I don't think such a thing exists today and I have never heard of this method of payment.

yeah, i think he called it a "counter check".....i've never heard of such a thing.

Yes, there is a "Counter Check" but it only exists anymore in banks.

I agree, he did call it a counter cheque in "candidate for crime".

I've never heard of such a thing here in the UK. By the way, we spell cheque differently here just in case anyone thought i spelled it incorrectly.

Yes, a counter check is a generic check. They are rarely seen but they will still work. It is a blank check (including the space where your account number is) you can fill in the account number and then use it like a normal check

Most of them are inside the bank with the blank generic deposit slips

Thanks Kent, very informative. I wonder about this every time I watch that episode.

I am going to look for a counter check next time I am in the bank. But I would love to see the look on my mechanic's face if I proposed to pay him in this way a la Columbo.

Cheers everyone!

These days from what I Googled, a counter-check is a withdrawl slip at a bank. Maybe, it was more prevalent and used more than just in the banks back in the 70's. President Nixon took out the backing of gold and silver in the U.S. Dollar in 1971, afterall. Banking has changed a lot in the past 50 years. I am a bit younger to know what happened back then. My dad graduated highschool in '71. During this episode, he was in college. It is exciting to see life back then. It almost is like peeling back time and witnessing the time period.

Counter checks used to be very popular back in the 50s to early 80s. Businesses of all sorts had them and would accept as long as you had driver's license or military I.D.