Saturday, November 19, 2016

The old ways

There are good practices, things from the past that we forget.  We forget them because for one thing we are a throw away society.  This subject came about last night as I was mentioning I cannot throw a container away.  If you are familiar with 'canning' you know about pint and quart jars.  I checked the price of jars just for the heck of it the other day and some run $1+ each.  I can remember mama giving canned stuff away and in a few weeks the jar was returned washed, with thanks. The only way a canner lost a jar was dropping it..

We are not as faithful as in the past at returning jars, but we try.

In my childhood a kid could earn some spending money by finding and saving soft drink bottles. If you took a bottle away from a store you had to pay 3¢. It still amazes me that anyone would throw a bottle out the window of a car that was worth money. But I have looked in ditches and found bottles enough to buy a Pepsi and a pack of crackers or go to a movie. When you found bottles and took them to a grocer he would give you 2 maybe 3¢, even muddy. That always amazed me because the Pepsi or Coke cost a nickel.


Many of the blogger readers who read 'Life 101' didn't notice back in the spring that Rick made a statement that dated him, it said, "Rick is OLD." Rick is a very good writer and has a pretty young wife (but he is old fashioned in some ways.) Last Spring he said, "It is time to break out the garden tools and RUB THE HANDLES DOWN WITH LINSEED OIL.

That may not mean much to some. The practice could come from military training. Years ago when the soldier carried a rifle it had a wooden stock. To keep that stock in great condition we applied linseed oil to it.  

But most likely the practice was handed down by a dad or grand parent who still had tools in their sheds that had been there 20-50 years because they were taken care of..  I have several shovels, the handles are weather cracked. If dad were alive he would shame me and say, "Son you should oil these  handles."

WE should appreciate the past enough to keep some practices alive.  It doesn't have to be a physical act, but a personal act of trust or compliment.   Life is good, some of the old paths are good to walk down, like helping a neighbor or lending a hand to some one less fortunate.

I have blogger friends who every day remind me how wonderful life and people are.

Thanks Guys (you too Rick) and thanks for stopping by the Shipslog.


Nite Shipslog

A forgotten Luxury car
The Stutz  from 1911 to 1937  The most notable the Stutz Bearcat

7 comments:

betty said...

They don't do it here in Arizona, now that I think of it, but they did in California. For any plastic bottle that was recyclable, there was a charge assessed to you when you bought it. In turn, you could recycle it and get the money back. Homeless people would be at gas stations all the time looking through the trash for bottles, cans, etc., to recycle. They must not charge here in Arizona cause I don't see the homeless looking through stuff at gas stations, etc. Thanks for this post of yours, Jack. I always wondered since we lived here why I didn't see the people scavenging, now I put two and two together :)

betty

Lisa said...

Your post has been me a Nicks discussion this morning during breakfast. I often read your post aloud to him. He always agrees with the "old ways" you describe things. I love it. (Sigh) I have mason jars in my cabinate that Im sure I was supose to return.

Happy Sunday.
Lisa

Mevely317 said...

I've not a lot of early childhood memories, but one of my fondest was 'dumpster diving' with my little friends. We'd fill the little red wagon w/ soda bottles and redeem our bounty for precious nickels and dimes.
Funny, I don't recall any of our mothers being concerned about our climbing inside the dumpsters. I'll bet some of today's "helicopter parents" would have a stroke. Even our safety officer won't let us use our shoe to tamp down the trash can, cause God-forbid there might be a discarded needle in there.

Never heard of linseed oil. I'll have to ask DH!

Dar said...

I Love this post. I still can and also give so much away. If I were to gather up all the jars never returned to me, I wouldn't have to get more at tag sales. lol Some return, even full of something new. We also make maple syrup, the neighbor sells honey so we just trade. It comes out even.
As for oiling our handles, thanks for the reminder. We still need to do that fall chore. My uncle built a log cabin and he used linseed oil on the logs. They still look wonderful. I recall Dad using linseed oil on his handles, and also his traps....can't say I remember getting a nickel for a pop bottle......could be cuz Mama used to make our pop, root beer.
Hugs n' all from our cold north

Glenda said...

As kids we picked up many a pop bottle from the ditches between Rucker and Moberly!!! Good memories, thanks Jack.

Rick Watson said...

Thanks for the shout out Jack. I remember those coke bottles. I have a case of them on the porch of our creative space to add ambiance:) I bet I could get more than 3 cents a peace for them:)

Paula said...

We returned bottles for money in the 50's. I remember linseed oil but I don't remember what we used it for.