A few months back I did some research in to the Watkins Company. It was
founded in 1868 as the J.R. Watkins Medical Company in Plainview Minnesota
and is still in existence today. To quote from their website it was "one of
America's first natural remedies companies where associates market directly
to consumers." Your "Watkins man" would have likely been one of these
associates. They initially sold home remedies like liniments but in the
1890s they added flavorings and spices (vanilla, pepper, cinnamon, etc.) to
their line. The company now offers a variety of products in four categories
-- gourmet specialty foods, health and nutrition, personal care, and home
care. They have a nice web site with a great timeline of the history of the
company (click on About Us) http://www.watkinsonline.com/default.cfm. I
don't know if there is any discussion of returning the bottles to the
associates and the company reusing them however.
You can still join the company as an associate and it looks like much of
their business in now mail order and internet based.
Stephanie L. Bandy
Archaeologist/Public Outreach Coordinator
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education
Fort Hood Cultural Resource Management
(254) 288-0846
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Harmon/R8/USDAFS [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 7:58 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Formal Reuse of Bottles (?)
John, your recollections of bottle reuse and childhood are very similar to
mine in the rural south (Lexington, SC). Bob, none of this is written up,
but you may find it of use.
Milk - My father kept a guernsey milk cow until the early 60's when the
county started requiring inspections. He simply didnt want to bother w/the
inspection. He was always an independent soul. From that point on, we
bought milk at Mack's grocery in quart bottles that were dutifully returned
each week for another round. The practice stopped when milk came in
cartons.
Soda - I rode many miles on a coaster bike w/half bushel basket tied to the
handlebars w/baling twine, collecting discarded drink bottles so they could
be sold for 1 1/2 or 2 cents each to the Mack brothers (price dependent on
either Eli or Arthur's presence at the register). The brothers accepted
coke and pepsi products because those were the companies they represented.
Beer - I dont recall any recycling of them. I do remember my first sample
however!
Raleigh - We had the Watkins man (dont know if there is a connection
w/Watkinsville Ga.). Momma bought vanilla flavoring and whatever else she
found suitable. Vanilla flavoring was used to make "Grandma Corley milk."
He accepted empties, but I always wondered what became of them. The
salesman must have been well into his 60s. He stopped making his rounds in
the late 1960s and I dont believe anyone replaced him.
Enough recollecting.
Michael A. Harmon
Natl. Forests in North Carolina
160A Zillicoa Street
PO Box 2750
Asheville, NC 28802
828-257-4872
[log in to unmask]
John Hyett
<john.hyett@BI To: [log in to unmask]
GPOND.COM> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Re: Formal Reuse of
Bottles (?)
HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
<[log in to unmask]
edu>
03/21/2002
06:55 AM
Please respond
to HISTORICAL
ARCHAEOLOGY
From personal recollections of an Australian upbringing
Milk bottles - for the city dwellers- in small towns, milk came in a billy
can
Soft drink (soda) bottles - a good way to earn pocket money, pick up a
couple of bottles through the back fence of the store and take them around
the front to collect the deposit
Beer bottles - in the 1960s in outback Queensland you could still take
empties to the pub and get them refilled
The Raliegh Man - traveled door to door in medicines, food additives (lemon
essence etc) and other items. If I recall rightly he took back the old
bottles, but I may be wrong there.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert L. Schuyler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2002 5:47 AM
Subject: Formal Reuse of Bottles (?)
> Does anyone on the list know of PUBLISHED sources, or unpublished papers,
> on the history and nature of the formal reuse of glass bottles? I am
> referring to the practice in the 20th century (19th century?) when
bottles
> were systematically returned to the store or other original source. The
two
> major categories I am familiar with are:
>
> (1) Soda bottles which were purchased (with part of the price considered
> a deposit) and then returned for money. This was a way many children
> made pocket money, especially with Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola bottles.
>
> (2) Milk bottles which were left out to be picked up by the milkman
> (sorry, I do not remember any milkwomen!) to be taken back to the local
> dairy to be refilled.
>
> Some questions:
>
> (1) Are there other obvious categories beyond the two I listed
above?
>
> (2) When did such practices start?
>
> (3) When did they end (if they have ended)?
>
> (4) When did the phrase - "No Deposit No Return" - come into
> use?
>
> Such practices have a major impact on the archaeological record
> of the 20th (19th?) century. For example, in recent excavations of 20th
> century deposits we found only one Coca Cola bottle and it was there
> because it had been broken.
>
> I am after published (or at least formally written up) sources,
> either primary sources or work by researchers such as archaeologists,
> material culture experts or cultural historians. I would also be
> interested in personal knowledge you may have. You could either send
> such personal accounts to me off line or, if you want, share them with
> the list. This question would, I think, be of interert to many historical
> archaeologists.
>
> Robert L. Schuyler
>
>
>
> Robert L. Schuyler
> University of Pennsylvania Museum
> 33rd & Spruce Streets
> Philadelphia, PA l9l04-6324
>
> Tel: (215) 898-6965
> Fax: (215) 898-0657
> [log in to unmask]
>
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