Did You Know… There Was a Time When All Fizzy Pop Drinks Came in Glass Bottles with Deposits?

Pop bottle returns and the excitement of reclaiming a few pennies.

Long before plastic bottles, ring-pull cans and multipack deals, fizzy drinks in Britain came in solid glass bottles. In the 1960s and 70s, every bottle of pop carried a small return deposit, usually a penny or two, which you could reclaim by returning the empty to the shop. For a young boy (or girl), those bottles were far too valuable to throw away.

It was a simple system, but one that shaped a childhood routine. It could make a difference to pocket money economics. There was also the thrill of walking into a shop clutching a bag of empties, which would soon turn into a pocketful of pennies.

A Local Shop For Local People

“Where did you get them from?” The shopkeeper might ask.

I would try not to look guilty. Sometimes, I would take them back for neighbours, having agreed that I could keep the pennies. Often, I would find them. To the shopkeeper it looked like we drank a lot of pop, little of which had been bought from him.

The shopkeeper would inspect the bottles, count them, and either hand over coins or deduct the amount from whatever you were buying. A big haul could go towards sweets, crisps, or, maybe, another bottle of pop to start the cycle all over again. A few bottles might buy a comic.

The local shop was central to this system. Many had wooden crates stacked by the door, out the back, or behind the counter. The shopkeeper knew exactly which bottles belonged to which company and which were acceptable for return. Some were stricter than others. A bottle from the “wrong” brand might be rejected with a shrug. Others took them all. It depended on the shop, the supplier, and if your parents were a regular customer.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas - Day Twelve: A Brief History of the Twelve Days of Christmas

 

For many, Christmas ends on 25 December, or the day after Boxing Day. The decorations come down, television schedules return to normal, and attention turns to the celebrations for the New Year.

Yet traditionally, Christmas is not a single day at all — it is a season. At the heart is the Twelve Days of Christmas, a period with its own history, symbolism and tradition.

In mediaeval and early modern Europe, this twelve-day period was a time for celebration, feasting, music and social gatherings. Work was often suspended, and each day held its own significance within the Christian calendar.

Twelfth Night: The Final Celebration

It begins on Christmas Day (25 December) and ends on Twelfth Night (5 January), which just happens to be today.

The beginning of the Twelve Days of Christmas can be misunderstood. It is often assumed they lead up to Christmas Day rather than beginning on it. It’s hard to imagine that there was a time when the celebrations of Christmas carried on into the new year.

In earlier centuries, however, Christmas Day was the start of the celebrations, not the finale. Decorations traditionally remained in place until Twelfth Night, after which it was considered unlucky to keep them up.

Twelfth Night, on 5 January, was historically one of the most important nights of the Christmas season. It marked the end of festivities and was often celebrated with parties, plays, music and the sharing of a special Twelfth Night cake. The cake sometimes contained a hidden bean or coin. Whoever found it would be crowned “King” or “Queen” of the festivities for the evening. The tradition of role reversal — servants becoming masters, rules being relaxed.

Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night takes its name from this tradition of misrule and celebration.

The Twelve Posts of Christmas - Day Eleven: New Year's Day - A Day Of Superstition.

 

It was New Year’s Day, sometime back in the late 1960s, and my school football shirt was dirty and needed cleaning. I had a big game coming up, and I only had one decent football shirt. In my schoolboy mind, it was a matter of urgency.

I asked my mother if she could put it in the washing, as I needed it as soon as possible. I expected that it would soon be washed and ready again.

“No, not today,” she replied.

“Why?” I asked, surprised.

It seemed to me to be a reasonable question, as she always seemed to be doing some washing. There was a never-ending supply of laundry that needed to be washed. Why not today, I wondered? 

“I’ll tell you why,” she replied. “It’s New Year’s Day, and you don’t do any laundry today, as it will bring bad luck.”

“What bad luck?” I wanted to know.

“If I do it today, it will bring bad luck. That’s what they say. Have you not heard of washing a loved one away? You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

Now, I didn't want that to happen, but surely washing my football shirt was not going to cause a death in the family?

The superstition that doing the laundry on New Year’s Day could result in the death of a family member is one that is widely held. Many seem to believe it, or at least observe it, and for some it is extended to not doing any house cleaning on New Year’s Day.