DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
16 comments:
Too many times.
Those were the days you learned about work ethics / work for your money to buy what you want not expect it to be given to you / responsibility on money matters / pay your own bills and not expect someone else to always support you.
Oh come on........it hasn't been that many years ago!!!
When I was growing up (1950s) the only way we could afford a soft drink was to scour the roadsides until we collected enough bottles to turn in for the deposit. It used to be 2 cents then it was raised to 3 cents.
That is so correct!
That is very true!
Now the kids just do drugs and conduct thievery.
We once found a huge cache of returnable bottles at a local dump. After a bunch of cartloads we came out with over $45, enough to take three of us to the movies all summer long.
Hoping the Statute of Limitations is over:
In our neighborhood in Downtown Baltimore, we quickly learned that the sodas in this type of machine were "free".
Here's how we did it:
1. Go to a beer/liquor store and get a free "church key". (If you are under 50 years old, look it up.)
2. Go to a friend's house and use his dad's metal saw and saw the church key in half.
3. Get a straw and/or a cup.
4. Use the (now) 1/2-size opener to pop the cap on the visible bottles.
5. Let it pour in the cup - then drink the rest with a straw.
Sometimes there would be 5 or six of us after playing baseball on the school lot, and we'd empty all the visible bottles.
If we were REALLY thirsty, we would put the caps back on the empty bottles and wait around the corner for someone to buy the empty bottle.
I'm not proud of it now, but when you were a kid with NO money, it was a matter of survival!
I use to ride my bike up and down the country roads....yes alone and unsupervised.....with no phone or sippy cup...with tw itchy bourlap bags...yes burlap....not shabby chiche slipcovers... tied over my bike and pick up bottles and cans. We had a lot of drunks in the family too and I collected all their cans. I would crush and bag all the cans and every six months go to Salisbury Steel and cash out. Aluminum was 24 cents a pound then about a penny a can and at 10 years old I put 600 dollars a year in my humble bank account. People littered and dump their trash illegally a lot more then. A great deal too was when they would put in new telephone poles they would leave the old ones laying there for pick up and you could pry the copper ground wire off the pole and the huge coil on the bottom. That was good money. Too this day I do not hesitate to pick up a penny tails up or not. I have a slush account just for pocket change. You would be amazed just what that amounts to and then invested in emerging penny stocks you can gamble a little. LOL. I have the same excitement now making money as I did a kid finding a cache of bottles or cans.
70's and early 80's....walking the streets of coastal highway, then turning them in for boardwalk money.
After the bottles vanished, it was again walking the streets of OC to all the payphones. Especially summertime when folks would leave change everywhere. It was easier work with payphones than bottle deposits since it was instant $$$$$$
Talk about work ethic....simpler times indeed!
How do you think I was able to go to Skateland on Friday nights? I'd collect bottles all week , cash them in at Parsons store for 10 cents each to go
-rick
Ooh Skate Land. What was that rink refs name ? Shooter ? or Scooter ? He was like Billy D Williams on wheels.
@4:27, what a great memory!
I think it was "Shooter"! I saw him recently at the mall. Those were great times! And yes, bottles and cans came in handy for a kid who wanted to do things that his parents were not going to pay for.
My brother and I used to roam up and down RT. 50 in the area of Naylor MIll Road years ago looking for bottles to cash in for sodas and candy at the little store close to Naylor Mill. The building is still there. Miss my brother every single day.
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