Memories in a Glass bottle

Have you ever wanted to save your memories in a glass bottle? I was recently in the walk-in cooler of a local convenience store and noticed an interesting thing . . . Glass Bottles with Soda in them.  At first I just smiled and didn’t think about it too much.  Then, I heard someone grab one out of the front of the cooler and my mind suddenly raced to a completely different place!  I heard the not-so-familiar-now sound of a couple of glass bottles “clinking together” and I suddenly was transported to a time and a place that is now almost 35 years ago!

When I was a child, around 5 or 6 years old, I can remember being excited about going to my dad’s office.  It was usually on a Saturday or Sunday evening, after the office was closed, and my dad needed to pick up some paperwork for a client he was working with.  No, I was not interested in Real Estate, nor did I care about selling houses.  No, my interest was much more in line with that of a kid my age.  Soda!

Now, I know that may people across this great country of ours call this fantastic bubbly delight by different names . . . Some call it Soda, some call it pop, still others just call it Coke, even though that is a brand!  Some call it a drink, a beverage, or any number of other names, but I called it delicious!

My dad kept an assortment of various drinks in the back of his office for his clients.  They were all the name brands of the time such as Coke, 7up, Nehi, and RC Cola.  I believe he even had Mr. Pibb at one point.
No matter what you called it, and no matter how different they all were, they all had two things in common . . . They were delivered in wood cases and they were all in glass bottles!

Now, I know there are many reasons why glass bottles are not used in today’s world.  Some include the weight, the cost, how easily they break, and even the requirement for a bottle opener all top the list, but there is still something different about drinking a cold beverage out of a glass bottle.  Here in America it seems that this concept has fallen by the wayside in favor of the plastic bottle with screw-on cap.  This is simply not the case in other parts of the world.  I spent about three weeks in the country of Nicaragua, and you simply cannot find a carbonated beverage in a plastic container!  They are all in reusable glass bottles and you cannot take them with you!  If you stop at a gas station and purchase a Coca-Cola, it will be in a glass bottle, and you must drink it there and return to them the bottle before you leave.

I cannot put my finger on exactly what is different about drinking a soda out of a glass bottle, but I can tell you that it is just somehow better.  It is the same reason that a person will go to a restaurant and pay $6.95 for a “Root Beer float in a frosty mug” instead of a fast food joint and pay only $0.99 for the same size drink!  What is is about quality versus mass production that makes the difference?

Old Favorite Recipes Last for Decades for a reason.

The “Steak-n-Shake” brand as well as the “Cracker Barrel” brand have been an extremely huge success because they tell people they make things the way they used to be made.  Now, I know they still use the modern grills and cooking methods, but there is something about using “Grandma’s Recipe” instead of a microwave to make your dinner that simply changes the flavor!

My wife and I recently made popcorn in a “Stir Crazy” popcorn popper.  This is similar to making popcorn on the stove, the way my mom and dad used to do when I was a kid.  The flavor is completely different from the microwave popcorn that we eat today!  It is not the same as a theater, but it is close.  What is is about theater popcorn that is so good?  I believe that it has to do with the fact that a microwave, the wonderful modern convenience it is, happens to not be involved in their process!

No matter what you think about modern conveniences, they have their place.  Still, I believe we loose something when we forget about the ways of the past. This has been a fun time capsule moment going back in time and reminiscing about the good old days. These memories in a glass bottle would be fun to save in your own time capsule too. Then you could pass on things like this to your children or grandchildren, when you can no longer find nostalgic items like the coke in a glass bottle. Get your own DIY Time Capsule here, and get started saving things like this today.

What things do you remember from the past as being better?  What things would you like to see returned from your childhood?  What do you recall being better in the past?  Please comment below with your answers.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Mark