Those Were the Days

Things from the past fascinate me; I’m not a collector of old things per se, but I do like having things from previous days around me. John seems to be the same. I think I’ve posted a picture or two of our ‘museum’, haven’t I?

Some of this stuff I had (the tins, the train), some of it John had (the teddy bear, the shoes and a couple other things) and some of it we’ve found over the years we’ve been together. Most of it doesn’t make it’s way into the house; we’ve been using it as outdoor decor for a few years, when we’ve had the opportunity.

This week, one of the guys who come around quite a bit (The Other Mike) was asking about some of the stuff, especially the pop bottles.

Apparently, when he’s out and about in the back country or old homestead areas, he likes to hunt for old bottles. According to him, he has some that are actually worth something. Very cool!

Anyway (that was all background), when we got home from work yesterday, there was a box on a small bench we have by the front door. It wasn’t a big box and it had no address on it, so it hadn’t come through the mail. I wasn’t even sure it was for us until I pulled back one of the flaps to see what was in the box.

What a nice surprise! It could only have come from The Other Mike. This is an interesting collection of bottles from days past. The large brown bottle (the shorter one) is a Javex bleach bottle. The tall brown bottle has only ‘P F Heering’ on it. I’ll be doing some research on that one. There are two medicine bottles in the bottom left hand corner of the picture, one of which is still corked. Whatever was inside it has evaporated, but it still has it’s cork.

There’s even a bottle that once held McCulloch’s Aerated Water, bottled locally in Vernon, BC. I think the thing that amazes me the most about the bottles, especially the drink bottles, is their weight. For their size, these bottles are heavy! We, today, are so used to pop cans and plastic bottles that are light. These bottles are made of good strong glass.

As far as I’m concerned, we’d be wise to go back to glass. It can be easily recycled, reused and, as far as I’m concerned, are much more aesthetically pleasing to the eye and the hand.