Web Page 2002

22nd November 2013

Pictures: Screw top lemonade bottle

Lower Picture: Rizla machine

Bottles.

Someone mentioned to me the other day the system that worked well for us kids in the 1950’s and 60’s and that was the money back on the empties scheme. I could always guarantee that I would make a few bob after Christmas when I scoured the house for the old beer bottles, which could be taken back to the New Inn and money, exchanged for them. Not that my family were big drinkers but the pub also took pop bottles. As I remember we had to be careful because if the pop bottle did not have the screw top and rubber seal in the neck the landlord would not pay and if the beer bottles came from another brewery it was the same result. “They are not mine take them somewhere else” was the dreaded phrase. The New Inn was ideal place to take bottles back because the dead bottle store was situated in the yard behind the pub and this was only protected by a set of double gates and a padlock and chain. Now came the exciting part. The gates, even when chained, never closed properly and so selecting the smallest boy amongst us we would push him through and he would quietly empty the nearest crate and pass the empties back out to us on the outside. Not being foolish enough to take them straight back we would hid these bottles, normally in a den in my back garden, and took them back a few days later making just enough money for a trip to the Saturday Morning pictures or on a bad day a large bag of chips from Fishy Francis chip shop in Drayton.

Whilst discussing this with another friend recently he shed even more light on the money back systems of our youth. He was brought up in Liverpool and there not only beer and lemonade bottles earned money, jam jars did as well. He remembers taking his mum’s empty jars to the local shop,  here the owner would pay 1d for a full size jar and ^1/₂ d for the smaller, honey type jars. He had no idea what happened to the jars afterwards he assumes they went back to the bottlers. Now I never remember any system like that running in our area, maybe some out there does if so please get in touch. But this was an aftermath of war when basic items were in short supply and salvage was still one of the watchwords of the day.

The other thing that I remember about bottles when I was a youngster was my father or mother taking any form of screw top bottle into Pinks the grocers in Drayton and buying loose sherry, port or wine. These bulk drinks were stored behind the counter in large wooden barrels and were tapped as and when needed. I remember the assistant behind the counter taking the bottle from my mother undoing the top and then taking a good sniff at the bottle to make sure it had not been used to store paraffin or turpentine in!

This makes my family sound as though there was always a lot of alcohol in the house but that was not true. It was only bought in for special occasions, a family get together or meeting or for use over the Christmas period. But I remember my grandmother, having her half pint of Mackeson or some form of stout in the evening, the iron content I was told, it did her good.

One other thing that does come to mind has nothing to do with bottles and drink but another vice, smoking. Both my father and grandmother smoked. Father smoked Kensitas and collected the coupons, this is how he got his first electric drill, a Wolf Cub single speed machine complete with a set of masonry bits! I cannot remember what my grandmother, who actually lived with us, smoked but I do know that in the late 1950’s, as an economy measure, she tried rolling her own. Of an evening out would come her tin box with the Old Holborn tobacco, Rizla cigarette papers, filters and the rolling machine and she would sit there all evening and make enough cigarettes for the following day whilst watching the television and if I was good I was allowed to help her. I am sure the cigarettes I made were terrible and that they were broken up and re-rolled as soon as I went off to bed. So with my grandmother and her fags and Mackeson we have come full circle back to beer bottles, did I mention that we used to take them back to the New Inn? It was at this time that a new phrase entered into the British Vocabulary, “Anything back on the empties, mate?” 

Keep in touch

Peter

DUSTYKEAT@aol.com

Pj.keat@ntlworld.co.uk

You Write:Going back a couple of weeks I had a chat to Mum about Charlotte Street and I also have a tape of my Grandmother talking about her childhood and Charlotte Street also features in her memories.

My Grandmother was born in 1896 and therefore her earliest memories would be from around the turn of the 20th century.  They lived just off Lake Road, just a short walk away. her mother would often take her to Charlotte Street market in the evening when, in the winter, the stalls would be lit with flares.  She particularly remembered Christmas they would go to the market late on Christmas eve, to buy a piece of meat cheaply for the next day.  The atmosphere was very exciting to a small child who was anticipating something special from Father Christmas, and doubtless would provide the oranges and walnuts to be found in the Christmas stocking..

This tradition of going in the evening carried on as my mother was also taken there in the dark, after tea her mother would say she was going to the market and Mum would jump at the chance to go with her.  She remembers a shop that sold only eggs and day old chicks which she loved to look at and hold if they would let her.  Part of the reason for going in the evening was to save time the following day, shopping for dinner (always at 12.00) was a daily chore and if you could get some of it done the day before it allowed more time in the morning. 

I also remember going to Charlotte Street as a small child and taken as a treat to the British Home Stores Restaurant for lunch, where they had red leatherette banquette type seating (strange what you remember)..  The hustle and bustle of the market was fascinating to children and adults alike.  I well remember the man who sold the china and displayed it along his arms, "I am not going to charge you £5, not £2.00 the lot for a £1", with lots of cheeky banter in between.

Food was plain, wholesome and above all fresh and free from all the nasty substances we eat with our meat and veg today. What a long way we have come from this friendly busy market to sprawling supermarkets with too much choice.

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