Who remembers collecting bottles to get the three pence back
By shelagh77
@shelagh77 (3643)
February 10, 2007 8:33pm CST
Do you remember collecting all the drinks bottles, particularly Corona, so that you could take the bottles back and collect the three or six pence deposit? That was how a ot of children earned their pocket money in the UK in the 1960s.
Do you think that children would enjoy their pocket money more if they had something enterprising they could do to earn a few pennies/cents the would recycle bottles rather than smashing them and causing a danger to pets and to car tyres?
2 people like this
5 responses
@gracie73 (66)
• United States
18 Feb 07
I remember when I was little we would get soda in 4,6, or 8 pks and take back the empty bottles for a deposit return. I don't remember how much. Of course when you are little you don't pay attention to how much things are worth. LOL We still recycle (cans, bottles, and other items) My Dad recycles scrap metal too.
1 person likes this
@shelagh77 (3643)
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19 Feb 07
Oh Gracie! I remember every penny lol. We recycle too, but our local authority gets the benefit from it and is now going to charge us for the privilege of having our ordinary waste collected into the bargain. Unfair or what!
Does your father sell on the scrap metal or does he make it into other items and recyle it that way?
@shelagh77 (3643)
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27 Feb 07
Wow! Instructions please! We are always trying to recyle and make things. Ant is a potter and sculptor as well as an Artist and Builder, and he is always up for new ideas.
Your Father sounds an absolute treasure, I would wager that you can get some absolutely wonderful posts from his knowledge. Hope so as I look forward to them, very much.
@rainbow (6761)
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11 Feb 07
I remember 5p on Corona and 10p on something else, I used to always takethe bottlesback and put the pennies towards the next weeks pop, my dad used to get his spot the ball at the same time but he never won. We used to put pins in the paper to see if the air came oout of the ball but it never did so he never won, lol.
1 person likes this
@rainbow (6761)
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27 Feb 07
We used to watch the wrestling on a sunday lunch if he was home and batman, it was nice. I never saw a lot of him as he worked hard when I was little but he was definately better than any superhero.
Life did seem more relaxed back then, now it seems to be buzy, buzy, buzy.
Can you remember the Caramel Bunny? I used to say "Hey Mr Bee why are you buzzing around?" to my dad and he used to laugh his head off and find a few miutes for me, bless him.
@shelagh77 (3643)
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27 Feb 07
oh yes, Rainbow, different Dad, similar memory.
I don't think like was less busy, I just think that there were less complications and systems were not made to make life difficult.
For example, all the children went to the same school which was just a walk up the road, everyone working more or less in walking distance etc. There were less factors to mess up the day and it didn't matter if the car didnt start. No, we weren't rich, Dad was very clever and bought a banger and repaired it lol.
@shelagh77 (3643)
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14 Feb 07
Happy days! I think things were so much more comfortable then. An amble to the shops, get your money back, a laugh with Dad, even though he didn't win, what more could anyone ask really?
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
13 Feb 07
Welllllll as I am only 21 I wouldn't remember this really. Oh for Goodness sake, Ok I do as I used to do it to. You would have only given my Age away anyway. And yes I think it would be a good Idea if Kids still had to do this. As they are to spoilt now and they expect their Parents to just keep handing out. I have to say that I was lucky with my 2, they did a bit of a Paper round or Babysitting, as they knew the Situation with me at the time.
@shelagh77 (3643)
•
19 Feb 07
I agree, not because children are spoilt, but because it worries me that so few children have any financial sense or education and once they leave home they get into serious financial trouble. Some even manage this feat whilst living at home, as they run up huge credit card bills and they are not paying any living expenses.
I think that having three pence to spend and making up your mind how to spend it is a real learning experience, and it is a shame that few youngsters today have that fun. I used to have two pence to spend and one penny went into the "holiday fund" so that I had lots of pennies to spend on holiday. Yes, I am showing my age. But those pennies bought a lot more than 1p buys today!
@XxAngelxX (2830)
• Canada
11 Feb 07
When I was growing up we use to spend some time in Toronto every summer as that's where my dad's family was all from. I can remember collecting bottles with my cousins and taking them to a store called Becker's. We'd get five cents for the small bottles and ten cents for the bigger ones, lol. Then we'd spend it all on junk food! That was great, I miss those days!
1 person likes this
@shelagh77 (3643)
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13 Feb 07
Me too! There was great competition among my family, a lot of us all lived in the same village so there were about thirty cousins all scouring around for bottles and we used to see who could find the most.
We all had different ways of spending our booty, but if my Mum got there first my brother and I had ours put into our piggy banks so that we had plenty of spending money when we mae our annual trip to the beach.
@Stringbean (1273)
• United States
11 Feb 07
Oregon State has what they call the "bottle law," and you are required to pay a 5 cent deposit on every can or bottle of soda you buy. The deposit is refundable when you bring the empty bottle or can back for recycling. Usually we accumulate a bagful of soda cans before we get around to taking them along when we go grocery shopping and then use the refund to help pay for our groceries.
Boy Scout troops often knock on the door and ask for donations of empty cans or bottles to earn money money for their groups.
When this happens, it solves two problems at once; it keeps the empty containers from being thrown out along the roadways, and it keeps a few kids busy collecting them.
1 person likes this
@shelagh77 (3643)
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13 Feb 07
What a wonderful, sensible law and what a good last comment from you about keeping the kids busy!
I really wish we could have that law here. I must admit though that old habits die hard, and I would probably save my bottles and cans, get the deposits and put them into my piggy bank (which is actually shaped like an elephant, but when you are a child you don't have logic like that lol)and then put the savings into an account.
