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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 9:51 AM
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the version of a soft drink machine where all the drinks were suspended by the neck of the bottles in rows of rails, inside the cold box. You put your NICKEL (later a dime) into the coin slot, slid the drink you wanted down the row and into the little trap gate, and pulled it up through the gate to get it out of the machine? (The trap door wouldn't let the drink pass if the coin had not been fed into the machine first.)
We had one of those machines in my Dad's Shop. It was painted yellow, and was an Ara See (RC) brand machine. That thing would be worth a veritable fortune today as a collectable.
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TigerNet Elite [73016]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 9:56 AM
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I remember the machines with the vertical glass door on the lest side where you'd put in .20 and pull your glass bottle out. I don't remember what your talking about. I'm only 59 though.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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The ones you describe are the very next generation
Dec 11, 2020, 9:57 AM
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after the one I described. The vertical ones had a similar trap door at the end of each row that worked exactly the same as the older one.
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National Champion [7966]
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Game Changer [1631]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 7:03 PM
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I'm 53 and remember these, as well.
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Oculus Spirit [43181]
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I'm 58 and remember these
Dec 24, 2012, 11:28 AM
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but not theses
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Clemson Conqueror [11109]
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Gridiron Giant [16070]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:09 AM
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I loved to do that when i was a kid. Didn't you pull it by the bottle top on some of them and the bottle cap would pinch little hands. I think every barber and beauty shop had one of those type machines.
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Rock Defender [59]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:18 AM
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You are correct. As a kid ( I’m 43 today) i loved going with my dad to get his haircut so I could pull out a glass bottle soda out of the machiyand drink while he got a haircut.
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Valley Protector [1419]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:09 AM
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A service station that I frequented had one on the outside. They occasionally had problems with people popping the tops off and using a straw to help themselves to the drink.
By the way, those were the days of full service, pumping gas, cleaning windshields, checking air in the tires, checking oil and even sweeping out the floor - all for $0.28 per gallon.
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Clemson Icon [27842]
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Sounds like my uncle's Pure station in Waynesboro, GA...
Dec 11, 2020, 1:07 PM
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middle of town diagonally across from the court house.
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Orange Immortal [62908]
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National Champion [7219]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:10 AM
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Oh ,I remember them well .A 6.5 ounce cold glass bottle of coke( the only soft drink for me).
A machine like that could go for upward of a thousand dollars, or more ,I suspect, to the right collector.
By the way, have you ever put a package of Lance peanuts in a cold bottle of coke. Try it sometimes, but only in a 6.5 ounce bottle of the real Coca-Cola.
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Solid Orange [1370]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:56 AM
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Oh ,I remember them well .A 6.5 ounce cold glass bottle of coke( the only soft drink for me).
A machine like that could go for upward of a thousand dollars, or more ,I suspect, to the right collector.
By the way, have you ever put a package of Lance peanuts in a cold bottle of coke. Try it sometimes, but only in a 6.5 ounce bottle of the real Coca-Cola.
I remember the small coke machine cost 7cents for a bottle.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Yep, we used to do it all the time. For an RC Cola, it was
Dec 11, 2020, 11:55 AM
[ in reply to Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember ] |
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so syrupy sweet you almost HAD to do it, just to cut down on the sugar taste. 
I remember for a long time, the drinks and the salted peanuts each being a nickel. That was several groups of years ago!
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Clemson Conqueror [11421]
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That was known as the "dime lunch!"***
Dec 11, 2020, 11:07 PM
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Clemson Icon [27842]
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CU Medallion [18838]
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We had one of those
Dec 11, 2020, 10:14 AM
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at the Mom and Pop grocery store where I worked at age 15. Also collected empty bottles and sold them there for a couple of pennies.
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Orange Blooded [2106]
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Re: We had one of those
Dec 11, 2020, 12:53 PM
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There was also one at our grandfather's machine shop.
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CU Medallion [18838]
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Re: We had one of those
Dec 11, 2020, 5:16 PM
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Your summer job.
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Gridiron Giant [16070]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:14 AM
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For some reason those smaller 8oz glass bottle cokes tasted better than the taller ones.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Still do, even though they are small plastic ones these
Dec 11, 2020, 11:42 AM
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days. It must be a pigment of our imagination.
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Clemson Conqueror [11421]
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Gridiron Giant [16070]
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Re: they weren't 8 oz, were they? I think they were only 6.5 oz***
Dec 12, 2020, 10:12 AM
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Probably So. Just remember they were smaller.
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Orange Beast [6237]
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I do, but clearly I'm older than you.. I still remember...
Aug 8, 2023, 8:18 AM
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... the honor system Coke "machines." Basically it was an electric cooler with a coin "box." You placed your coin in the box, then opened the cooler and took the drink of your choice. No mechanics whatsoever.
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Dynasty Maker [3134]
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Newton's Shoe Shop Downtown Clemson
Dec 11, 2020, 10:19 AM
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Newton's Shoe Shop in downtown Clemson in the 50's had the box Coke machine with the rails. I can remember as a kid going in there with my dad to get his shoes repaired and he'd give me change to get a Coke. The first time I tried to pull one out, I had to get dad's help.
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Paw Warrior [4804]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:34 AM
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I remember them. Daym, I'm getting old. The drinks tasted a lot better back then imo.
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Paw Warrior [4704]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:39 AM
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I remember them. I still maintain that Soft Drinks in Glass Bottles taste the absolute best!
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Paw Warrior [4962]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:43 AM
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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The last pic is the one I described, except, as I said, ours
Dec 11, 2020, 11:44 AM
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was an RC (Royal Crown) cola machine, painted yellow.
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Standout [347]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:53 AM
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I remember when there were NO machines, I think????
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Dynasty Maker [3270]
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Who can say they have actually returned a glass bottle...
Dec 11, 2020, 10:54 AM
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for a nickel (or whatever the going rate was)
Used to collect a few bottles at the time and ride my bike to the mom and pop store up the road. That was back when me and my friends would leave out and didn't show back up at the house until dark and the parents didn't think twice about worrying about where we were. Just as long as we were home by dark. Can't do that these days
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Rival Killer [2964]
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Re: Who can say they have actually returned a glass bottle...
Dec 11, 2020, 11:21 AM
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Someone asked me not long ago if I had a favorite toy when I was a kid. Toy? I don't remember toys though I guess I had some. What I remember is my bike. Like you, out in the morning and home by dark..and in the summer, dark was pretty late. We fell, scraped ourselves up, probably hit our heads a few times, and got up and kept on going. If the chain came off or some repair was needed, we just somehow fixed it and kept on going. Those days are long, long gone and I feel sorry for kids whose days are now consumed by video games and smart phones.
And yes, we even found bottles and returned them for a few cents and had great fun splurging on some way too much sugar candy. In those days, we got so much exercise it didn't matter!
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Us kids used to ride our bikes around and scavenge
Dec 11, 2020, 11:47 AM
[ in reply to Who can say they have actually returned a glass bottle... ] |
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bottles out of trash dumps in the edge of the woods. Back then, that is what most country people did, no "Waste Disposal" collection centers, trash got hauled to a place on the edge of a woods on your property, and got dumped there (I recently pulled an old cast iron frying pan out of just such a dump.)
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Clemson Sports Icon [59815]
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Clemson Conqueror [11109]
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Re: Son, we used to walf the roads looking for them to take back
Dec 12, 2020, 1:48 PM
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2 or 3 cents for the small ones and a nickel for the ouarts(a small fortune)-coke ,pepsi,7up,hire's root beer,and canada dry.unfortunately there was no dr. pepper where i grew up(my favorite to this day,hopelessly addicted to it.)acquired the taste from many trips to the canteen.
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Playmaker [368]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:58 AM
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We had a Nehigh machine with Orange Crush. The bottles were glass and the top of it was round and dimpled. I remember going to this little tavern by a lake with my Ma. She was friends with the owners and we would go and visit them. She would give me change to get a drink from the machine, right next to the cigarette machine, and I would always grab an Ice Cold Orange Crush!
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Nehi was absolutely the best Grape and Orange drink.
Dec 11, 2020, 11:48 AM
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Hands down.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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I umember getting REAL upset when my Dad swapped out
Dec 11, 2020, 3:30 PM
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Nehi's and replaced them with Fanta, or something like that. Not even close to being as good.
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Rival Killer [2680]
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Sure do! What I think is really neat is the location that
Dec 11, 2020, 11:01 AM
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was imprinted into the glass on the bottom so you would know where it was bottled. I have a Beaufort, SC one on the shelf near the TV
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Scout Team [157]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 11:07 AM
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Thanks for bringing back a good memory.I agree that an ice cold coke in a bottle tasted better.
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Game Changer [2024]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 11:09 AM
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I am 64 and remember those machines. Typically at gas stations right next to the drink machines, there would big glass jars with metal lids that had Tom's nabs and packs of peanuts inside. Nothing was better that a cold Coke and a pack of cheese nabs!
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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And big glass jars with single candies we called
Dec 11, 2020, 11:52 AM
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"Jaw Breakers". And Mary Janes, and Squirrel Nut Zippers. In my earliest memories, those were two for a penny, but pretty quickly became only one for a penny. Nowadays, they would be a quarter probably.
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Asst Coach [859]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 11:19 AM
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Yes, well remember that type of soft drink machine during the 1950s. Was an Air Force brat, and spent several summers the first half of that decade visiting my grandparents, who lived in far south Greenville, where Augusta Road now splits into US Hwy 25 and Mauldin Road, formerly Parkins Mill Road. I, too, cashed in glass pop bottles for two cents each, and then bought fire crackers. Those were also the days of ten cent chili dogs! Treasured times indeed.
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Orange Blooded [2597]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 11:59 AM
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bought a small coke and a small bag of Lances peanuts and would pour the peanuts in the bottle. That was a great combo.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Also, back then, several of the candy bar companies
Dec 11, 2020, 11:57 AM
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would put various types of "collector" cards in with the candy bars sometimes, almost like baseball cards. This was when those candy bars cost a nickel.
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All-TigerNet [5855]
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Geez, you guys are making me feel old
Dec 11, 2020, 12:14 PM
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Not just old, but antique type. Remember all of those.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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I know, I keep trying to figure out when it happened.
Dec 11, 2020, 2:42 PM
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It sneaks up on you gradual like, and then all of a sudden, WHAMO, you're old.
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Ring of Honor [23621]
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Oh yeah, remember those well. And this will be a blast from
Dec 11, 2020, 12:18 PM
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the past for Greenvillians my age. There were 3 movie theaters downtown... the Fox, the Bijou & the Carolina, as I recall. Me and a couple buddies would walk to closest bus stop where we lived in the Welcome community. Fare was 15 cents to go downtown. We always hit the Army/Navy Store first, that place was like a fantasy land for 12 year olds... nudie playing cards, skunk perfume, M-80s, WW2 stuff like helmets, canteens, medals, knives, etc. One time they had a Nazi SS dagger that was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen... but it was $20... might as well have been a million. We looked for stuff in the 25 cent to a dollar range.
Anyway, after that we'd hit the movies. Not sure, but I think it was the Fox that had Sat matinees and it cost 6 Coca-Cola bottle caps to get in. As my mom owned a restaurant, I always had a ton of caps, and everybody got in free. ####, the best part was just getting to sit in AC for a couple hours on a hot summer day, almost nobody had AC at home. It would be like a Tarzan movie or similar, and the Looney Tunes cartoons before the movie was the bomb...
Can you imagine that today... kids not yet out of Elem school just taking off by themselves and hanging out in downtown Greenville all day. Late 60s. Good times.
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Legend [6933]
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7cents and a small coke from the machine plus 5 cents
Dec 11, 2020, 12:24 PM
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for the peanuts and crackers in machine next to it. This was in the late fifties and early sixties. Frank Howard was the coach and 3 yds and a cloud of dust was boring as hiell.
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Dynasty Maker [3300]
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And you brought your bottles back for a nickel (deposit)***
Dec 12, 2020, 6:27 PM
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CU Medallion [19298]
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I remember the horizonal coolers with the sliding door. Had
Dec 11, 2020, 12:26 PM
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the bottle opener on the corner with the metal "pocket" to catch the lids. Used to go to the county store with Grandpa and get a RC Cola and moonpie. Place had a wooden floor with a 1/4" gap or so between the floor boards. Great memories!
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Paw Warrior [4962]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 12:33 PM
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Found it
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Paw Warrior [4962]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 12:55 PM
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Meant to send this one.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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THAT's pretty much it, except ours had one continuous
Dec 11, 2020, 3:27 PM
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cover that was hinged on the back, and the box had a gasket that it rested on all the way around the top. Wow, that one you sent the picture of has been through it, hasn't it?
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 2:41 PM
[ in reply to Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember ] |
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Colors are right, but your picture is a vertical machine. In our old machine, the bottle stood vertical, suspended by their necks in the rails. The top cover of the machine was flip open, just like a freezer.
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Clemson Sports Icon [59815]
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Those came later...my uncle's gas station
Dec 11, 2020, 12:43 PM
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Had a small coke machine that sat on a table. You put a dime in it it and turned rhe handle hat qas shaped like the know on one if those old timers and a 6 1/2 ounce coke rolled around and dropped out. He had this very rotund friend,Talbert Cordell I believe qas his name who could down one of those Coke in one swig.. I swear that is the truth.
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Paw Master [17606]
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I'm 52 and I remember these well***
Dec 11, 2020, 12:50 PM
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Associate AD [1088]
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heck, I remember the first bottle.
Dec 11, 2020, 12:55 PM
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when soft drinks were discovered, a bunch of us were sitting around trying to decide what to put it in and one of us (not me) came up with the bottle idea.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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You sure that was SOFT drinks you all discovered?
Dec 11, 2020, 3:28 PM
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Paw Master [17606]
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Here you go!
Dec 11, 2020, 12:57 PM
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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That is IT, except for being dressed out in Coke colors
Dec 6, 2023, 4:11 PM
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instead of RC Cola. If you perchance tried to pull a fast one and get a drink out without paying your money, you would wind up with lost skin from the bottle cap ripping it off. (At least that is what I was told.)
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Head Coach [941]
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I remember the coke machine in my dad's shop, though I think
Dec 11, 2020, 1:11 PM
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it was a quarter to get one
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Orange Beast [6316]
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RE. Those Coke bottles had the town that they were bottled
Dec 11, 2020, 1:34 PM
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We would be out in the Tank Farms across the SouthEast. Most would have that old Coke Machine and we all would get one and bet a dollar on who had the bottle that was the furtherest away from us. Sometimes we had to pull out a map and measure the distance to see who won.
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Clemson Conqueror [11421]
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I remember the first time I ever soft a machine with 25 cent
Dec 11, 2020, 11:33 PM
[ in reply to I remember the coke machine in my dad's shop, though I think ] |
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drinks! Drink machines here in SC were all still 10 cents, but I went with a youth group on a trip to DC in the summer of 1967, we were staying at a Marriott, and the drinks in the machines were 25 cents. Us kids from the south thought that was the most ridiculous thing we had ever seen!
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Team Captain [465]
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Use to pass one of those on the walk home from School
Dec 11, 2020, 2:11 PM
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It was in front of a Barber Shop. I often wished I had a straw and an opener with me.
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CU Medallion [18133]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 2:59 PM
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Great times! My mom and dad use to take my sister and I up to the full service gas station to get a cold Coke out of the machine. Then we would ride around talking while my sister and I drank that bottled Coke!
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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There was another bottled drink that us kids gobbled up
Dec 11, 2020, 3:33 PM
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back then. It was called Chocolate Soldier. You could never name a drink that now, somebody would be sure to get upset. Those things had so much chocolate in them, back then, you had to shake them up before you drank them to get it all, just like a You Hoo is now.
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CU Medallion [18133]
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Re: There was another bottled drink that us kids gobbled up
Dec 11, 2020, 3:37 PM
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Man I loved those drinks. I think Yoo-hoo replaced the Chocolate Soldier. Thanks for sharing.
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Clemson Conqueror [11421]
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Yoohoos are nasty...chocolate water! Yuck! Give me real
Dec 11, 2020, 11:37 PM
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chocolate milk, and not that skim stuff either!!
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Game Day Hero [4599]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 4:27 PM
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I do
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Paw Master [16368]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 5:21 PM
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Of course I recall the horizontal machines that you pulled the drink you wanted straight up and out.
My grandparents lived in Columbia on Colonial Drive at the corner of Colonial and Craven. When I was a kid, Craven was a dirt road. There were 3 Mom and Pop grocery/convenience stores within easy walking distance of their house. At the age of 5 or so with a nickle or dime each my cousins and I could walk to any of the stores, always get a penny candy and with a dime a soft drink when some brands still cost only a nickle. A couple of those stores had the horizontal drink machines, as I recall with a variety of drinks, each in their own little column ready to slide down, and over and then to be released when you put your coin in the slot. As I recall sometimes the drinks stood in about 2-3 inches of cold water. Is that right?
Those little stores were great. My grandmother would often send us out to something she needed to fix dinner or supper. Sometimes we'd have to check all 3 stores to find whatever it was she needed. Often times, Snuff was what she needed! No money was needed. We told the owner to "Put it on Mrs. King's bill." Once a week or so Poppa would make the rounds paying the small amounts that had been put on his account.
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National Champion [7153]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 5:30 PM
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and if you weren't careful you would lose your money. If you didn't have a good grip, the bottle would come up far enough to take your nickel, but fall back down before it cleared the machine. Oops. You could tell the store owner, and he would give you your money back, but you would hear the teasing of not being strong enough to use it.
Those old country stores were the original 7-11. The owner never left, and many times lived upstairs or next door.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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There was one of these in my rural community called
Dec 11, 2020, 6:33 PM
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the Providence Farmer's Supply. They did have some hardware type stuff like nails by the pound, etc, but mostly it was a Mom and Pop grocery store. It was literally about a hundred yards from my grammar school. At recess us kids would tear over there and get a soda and crackers, and run back to the playground.
You could always count on there being between 6 and 8 older farmers sitting around a pot bellied stove there in the winter, solving all the world's problems. Most of them sat on some of the wooden soft drink crates, stood up on end.
It was a much kinder, simpler time. This world could sure use some of that now.
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Valley Legend [12188]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 7:31 PM
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And those 8 oz bottles were sooo cold!
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Athletic Dir [1105]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 8:37 PM
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First soft drink "machines" i ever saw were big metal coolers with a lid and you opened it to find various brands of drinks sitting in chilled water. Pick one and go over to the counter and pay a real person with that nickel.
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Ultimate Tiger [34273]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 11, 2020, 10:51 PM
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Yep the station next to Pleasant Meadow Baptist Church had one and there was one at Sallies Mae's store too. Always ice cold.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Well, raise a soda and toast yourselves. You all helped
Dec 12, 2020, 10:58 AM
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make this the poast of the day yesterday. Salute!
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Campus Hero [13231]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 12, 2020, 2:08 PM
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As a young 77 years old I remember the drink box you are referring to in the post. My Uncle had one in his auto garage.
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Orange Immortal [62908]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 12, 2020, 5:41 PM
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Yep, I remember the those soda machines well, and how they got ripped off all the time by devilish kids with a drinking straw!!!
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Clemson Icon [27759]
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Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember
Dec 12, 2020, 6:10 PM
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That is my memory also. There was this one “devilish” kid who hung around the little league ball park at Inman Mills where I played and he could pop the tops and drink every big orange in the machine. That was pretty bad behavior in the 50s.
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Heisman Winner [86662]
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Ya'll must have really had some juvenile delinquents in your
Dec 12, 2020, 6:40 PM
[ in reply to Re: Here is a true test of age: How many of you remember ] |
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area. I don't ever recall us having that problem with our machine. Of course, the fact that it was right in a working shop might have had something to do with that. This was back in the days when a kid would have had his hide torn off with a belt for doing something like that. (And he would have remembered that lesson, and never done something like that again.)
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Dynasty Maker [3300]
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Horizontal or vertical?
Dec 12, 2020, 6:21 PM
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Vertical ones would get stuck sometimes but...they were always Ice Cold in a glass bottle and if you were lucky enough it would just start to be forming ice on top of the drink...and sometimes the bottle would be frosted like a nice frosted beer mug. Nah-that couldn't be what you were talking about ...
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Dynasty Maker [3300]
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Right up there with mechanical gas pumps--some are still
Dec 12, 2020, 6:26 PM
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kicking. Guess electronics aren't everything. While you were waiting for your Jimmy Carter gas you could go over, usually in front of the station's office, and drown your sorrows at .40/gallon. I remember .17 in those up and down the street price wars. Then .40-we all thought that was the end. Now Biden's elected and it IS the end.
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MVP [518]
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Still have one up and running in the man cave
Dec 12, 2020, 7:34 PM
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It's an Ideal 55 Pepsi machine with embossed front, made in the early 1950s. The rack and coin mechanism are both intact and functional, and the compressor still makes the drinks icy cold. Everything works. No restoration done at all, aside from periodic cleaning and defrosting. Definitely some rust and patina, but I like it that way.
I wish I could still get returnable/refillable glass bottle sodas. The Florence SC Pepsi plant still did returnables right up until the end of 1999, and I would make the trip up and back (from here in Charleston) and fill the truck with a big supply each time (returning all my empties in the process). Through 1999 they were still doing returnables of Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, NuGrape, Sunkist (orange), and Red Rock (strawberry). I maintain that drinks are better in those thick returnable longneck glass bottles. The thin non-returnables are OK, but not the same thing by any measure.
Nowadays I have a few sodas in the machine, but it's mostly beer. The machine is a great conversation piece, but mostly it's just a testament to great craftsmanship. That thing was built to last.
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Clemson Conqueror [11777]
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I remember them well...
Dec 12, 2020, 7:48 PM
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Also remember the metal caps having cork in the top to hold in the carbonation.
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