Rural South Carolina's Forgotten Bottle Collectors

In rural South Carolina during the 1950s, collecting soft drink bottles was a lucrative business for young entrepreneurs like Tom Poland. For just a few dollars upfront, boys could start earning a steady income by scouring roadsides and trash bins for discarded bottles.

The deposit on each bottle was a nickel, but on a good day, a boy could collect enough to make a fistful of dollars. This entrepreneurial endeavor not only taught Poland the value of hard work but also introduced him to the importance of honesty when dealing with others' property.

However, as new technologies emerged in the 1950s and 1970s, the industry began to shift away from glass bottles. Royal Crown Cola introduced cans in the mid-1950s, followed by Coca-Cola's test-marketed cans in 1959. Plastic bottles eventually replaced glass, but Poland still prefers the classic glass bottle.