pop bottles

[franksolich]

They were always called "pop bottles" out in the Sandhills of Nebraska when I was growing up, but the liquid inside was always called "soda."  I suppose it was one of those regional things, but whatever.

It was a couple of "pop bottles" that nearly caused my demise the summer I was three years old.  An older sister and I had come across them, and all agog and excited, we decided to turn them in to the neighborhood midget grocery store for candy.  She, holding the bottles, ran across the street.  I ran across the street following her, but alas my trip was shortened by an automobile putting a sudden stop to that excursion.

My family, as a general rule, did not drink soda.

We were the dairy farmers' best friend.

I can recall, vaguely, in the remoter areas of western Nebraska, chest-type soda machines where the bottles were lined up in rows.  One opened the lid, deposited a coin (I disremember how much), and ran the bottle of choice along some sort of "guide," after which it was pulled out.  Also, such machines were usually half-full of bone-chilling cold water.

It was not until I was in high school that I dealt with pop bottles, when I worked at a local small-town grocery store and my job-title was "Manager, Returned Bottles Department."  This was in the 1970s, and while cans were replacing bottles, there was still a large demand for bottled soda.

The Coca-Cola bottles were always interesting, because Coca-Cola at the time had the location of manufacture on the bottom of its bottles; say, Kansas City, Missouri or Chicago, Illinois, or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  As the Coca-Cola bottles were all standard, that made no difference to the store accepting them or not.  Once in a while, one would come across a Coca-Cola bottle from Montreal, Quebec, or Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It was like taking a trip to faraway places, inspecting those Coca-Cola bottles.

The others were not quite so interesting.

The biggest problem one encountered was customers trying to cash in pop bottles with chipped tops.  The bottlers did not accept them.

Another problem was customers trying to cash in pop bottles from out-of-the-area markets, or from brands not sold by this particular store.  Hires Root Beer bottles were always a hassle; Hires Root Beer of course was sold in the Sandhills at the time, but not carried by this particular grocer.  And Royal Crown Cola, too.

And there was the issue of outdated bottles.  As late as the 1970s, one would still encounter Pepsi-Cola bottles with the then-long-outdated rectangular glass label.  The Pepsi-Cola bottler accepted them, but only with great reluctance.

Another nuisance were the 6.5-ounce pop bottles.  I dunno if such tiny bottles were still used at the time, but at least out in the Sandhills, they never had been, the market there demanding 10-, 12-, and 16-ounce bottles instead.

The job of scrutinizing returned pop bottles involved a great deal of case-by-case judgement; I always took my lead from the grocer, who would (reluctantly) accept unwanted bottles from, say, really good customers.

After the soda distributors made their weekly stops and took away all the acceptable returned bottles, there was usually a little less than a case of rejected bottles, which I then tossed into the trash.

In retrospect, I guess I should've saved them. 

[franksolich]

An excerpt of this cross-posted at

http://www.freerepublic.c...chat/2357054/posts?page=1

if anyone wants to read comments, if any comments gotten.

[Eupher]

Frank, you ol'-fashioned nostalgic traditionalist you!

Where I grew up (the shithole section of Michigan), we called the liquid "pop." And the bottles that carried said liquid "pop bottles".

We could get 2 cents on every bottle, provided the bottle was serviceable.

For some time now, Michigan has demanded a 10 cent deposit on cans AND plastic bottles. I suspect it's the same for the odd glass bottle of whatever, say Snapple for instance, that's sold.

Plastic does NOT equate to glass.

Schlepping a big plastic bag of empty 2-liter bottles to the grocery store to "cash in" just ain't the same as schlepping wooden cases of empty Pepsi bottles into the party store for cash-in and purchase of penny candy.

That's what we called the little Mom & Pop stores - "party stores".

They had a smell that I still remember. And sound. You could hear the sound of the refrigeration units as they struggled to keep the drinks cold and you could smell the tobacco smoke and dust. Not unpleasant at all.

Grape Nehi and Orange Crush were faves. As were packs of 5 baseball cards with a thin slice of bubble gum in them.

Ahhhhh........

I'd kill for a bottle of Grape Nehi just about now.....

[FGL]

An excerpt of this cross-posted at

http://www.freerepublic.c...chat/2357054/posts?page=1

if anyone wants to read comments, if any comments gotten.

I think I was the first one.

[FGL]

Seeing your posts at FR is one of the major ways I have of finding them. 

[IassaFTots]

My Dad told me a story of how he had his tooth chipped, by a classmate smacking the bottom of his bottle while he was drinking a soda.  My brother and I thought it was cool, so we did that in unison to each other.  Only problem, my brother still had his baby teeth, no harm, no foul.  Me?  Yup, a eensy beensy chip.  It has since been sanded off.

I hated lugging all those bottles for my Mom, or Grandparents, but I miss them.  We had a built in bottle opener on our kitchen cabinet.  That was cool.  

[FGL]

My Dad told me a story of how he had his tooth chipped, by a classmate smacking the bottom of his bottle while he was drinking a soda.  My brother and I thought it was cool, so we did that in unison to each other.  Only problem, my brother still had his baby teeth, no harm, no foul.  Me?  Yup, a eensy beensy chip.  It has since been sanded off.

I hated lugging all those bottles for my Mom, or Grandparents, but I miss them.  We had a built in bottle opener on our kitchen cabinet.  That was cool.  

We use to use the car's door lock thingy to open the bottles.

[NHSparky]

11 ounce bottles of MUG root beer, back in the day.  Ever since they went to cans and expanded, they've tasted like crap.

[IassaFTots]

We use to use the car's door lock thingy to open the bottles.

I remember my dad doing that with his VW....but he wasn't drinking pop.   

11 ounce bottles of MUG root beer, back in the day.  Ever since they went to cans and expanded, they've tasted like crap.

Barqs.  Beats MUG everytime.

[MrsSmith]

Frank, you ol'-fashioned nostalgic traditionalist you!

Where I grew up (the shithole section of Michigan), we called the liquid "pop." And the bottles that carried said liquid "pop bottles".

We could get 2 cents on every bottle, provided the bottle was serviceable.

For some time now, Michigan has demanded a 10 cent deposit on cans AND plastic bottles. I suspect it's the same for the odd glass bottle of whatever, say Snapple for instance, that's sold.

Plastic does NOT equate to glass.

Schlepping a big plastic bag of empty 2-liter bottles to the grocery store to "cash in" just ain't the same as schlepping wooden cases of empty Pepsi bottles into the party store for cash-in and purchase of penny candy.

That's what we called the little Mom & Pop stores - "party stores".

They had a smell that I still remember. And sound. You could hear the sound of the refrigeration units as they struggled to keep the drinks cold and you could smell the tobacco smoke and dust. Not unpleasant at all.

Grape Nehi and Orange Crush were faves. As were packs of 5 baseball cards with a thin slice of bubble gum in them.

Ahhhhh........

I'd kill for a bottle of Grape Nehi just about now.....

Peach Nehi...back when I only had 2 kids, we'd hit the laundromat every weekend, and I'd split a Peach Nehi with them.  It was the best pop in the world.   

[MrsSmith]

They were always called "pop bottles" out in the Sandhills of Nebraska when I was growing up, but the liquid inside was always called "soda."  I suppose it was one of those regional things, but whatever.

  

You know, I grew up just across the state, in Decatur county, Kansas.  I never heard pop called "soda."  "Soda" water was an anti-acid.  

[franksolich]

You know, I grew up just across the state, in Decatur county, Kansas.  I never heard pop called "soda."  "Soda" water was an anti-acid.  

The parents and older siblings were from New York, madam, and so used that usage.

And myself being deaf, I had no idea what people in the Sandhills used, just imitating the usage of the family.

[Crazy Horse]

Is pop and soda the same thing as coke???

[franksolich]

Is pop and soda the same thing as coke???

Yeah.

Another thing is the word "bucket" as compared with the word "pail".

What do they call those things down over there in North Carolina?

[FGL]

Yeah.

Another thing is the word "bucket" as compared with the word "pail".

What do they call those things down over there in North Carolina?

Ever heard of someone who refers to a trunk of a vehicle as a "turtleho"