bottlebugs
Well-Known Member
My Dad grew up in the Great Depression. Although it officially ended in 1933, its effects
lingered on for years. My Grandpa owned several houses before the depression. He
rented them out to make a living. Suddenly his tenants jumped ship in the middle of the
night to avoid paying their backlog of rents. He lost all but one of his houses and a major
source of income. Add 12 kids to the mix and he was broke in no time.
My Dad told me about his favourite soft drink during this era. It was called "Chum".
For ten cents he and his chums (thus the name) would split the price of a bottle of
Chum and a bag of salted peanuts. Then he would grab a bunch of glasses from his
cupboard and divey up the lot. Not a bad treat for two pennies each. They would each
find a deposit pop bottle and return it for the price of admission.
I found a Corona bottle that matched the label and gave it to Dad for a surprise. I also
found the brass stencil set used to paint the crates and gave him those too. He couldn't
leave well enough alone though; he washed off the label and dip and stripped the patina
off of one the stencils. He passed away before he could get at the other one. I sold the
bottle with my others and put the stencils on a shelf to enjoy. (Sorry for the crappy pic..
time to charge my good camera I guess)
The vibrations from the adjacent bathroom fan kept knocking them to the ground
so I propped up the lot with two pieces of petrified wood. ( I collected fossils at one
time) This proved to be not quite enough and they sporadically clanged to the ground.
What a racket!
In one of my last outings in search of bottles I stumbled upon an estate sale in my
neighbourhood. As I stepped inside I noticed that the house was practically empty.
I laughed. "Nothing left but the bones, eh?"
I was directed to the basement and encountered about a dozen treasure seekers
rooting through the remnants. By the time they left and it was my turn, there was truly
nothing left. I left in disappointment and clunked my head on the overhead duct from
the furnace on the way back up the stairs. (I am tall...six foot +) I looked up and saw two
neat stones tucked out of plain sight. Just right to keep my stencils from tumbling again.
I grabbed them and paid all of fifty cents for the pair.
Back in the sunlight, sitting in my car, I realized what I had found. Two fossilized bones! One was a yet to be identified dinosaur with fossilized scaly skin still attached. The second was from a butchered beast of antiquity with knife marks cut deep into the bone one one side. Nothing but the bones, eh?
lingered on for years. My Grandpa owned several houses before the depression. He
rented them out to make a living. Suddenly his tenants jumped ship in the middle of the
night to avoid paying their backlog of rents. He lost all but one of his houses and a major
source of income. Add 12 kids to the mix and he was broke in no time.
My Dad told me about his favourite soft drink during this era. It was called "Chum".
For ten cents he and his chums (thus the name) would split the price of a bottle of
Chum and a bag of salted peanuts. Then he would grab a bunch of glasses from his
cupboard and divey up the lot. Not a bad treat for two pennies each. They would each
find a deposit pop bottle and return it for the price of admission.
I found a Corona bottle that matched the label and gave it to Dad for a surprise. I also
found the brass stencil set used to paint the crates and gave him those too. He couldn't
leave well enough alone though; he washed off the label and dip and stripped the patina
off of one the stencils. He passed away before he could get at the other one. I sold the
bottle with my others and put the stencils on a shelf to enjoy. (Sorry for the crappy pic..
time to charge my good camera I guess)
The vibrations from the adjacent bathroom fan kept knocking them to the ground
so I propped up the lot with two pieces of petrified wood. ( I collected fossils at one
time) This proved to be not quite enough and they sporadically clanged to the ground.
What a racket!
In one of my last outings in search of bottles I stumbled upon an estate sale in my
neighbourhood. As I stepped inside I noticed that the house was practically empty.
I laughed. "Nothing left but the bones, eh?"
I was directed to the basement and encountered about a dozen treasure seekers
rooting through the remnants. By the time they left and it was my turn, there was truly
nothing left. I left in disappointment and clunked my head on the overhead duct from
the furnace on the way back up the stairs. (I am tall...six foot +) I looked up and saw two
neat stones tucked out of plain sight. Just right to keep my stencils from tumbling again.
I grabbed them and paid all of fifty cents for the pair.
Back in the sunlight, sitting in my car, I realized what I had found. Two fossilized bones! One was a yet to be identified dinosaur with fossilized scaly skin still attached. The second was from a butchered beast of antiquity with knife marks cut deep into the bone one one side. Nothing but the bones, eh?
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