Rural South Teen's Bottle Collection Entrepreneurship in the 1950s

In the mid-1950s, rural South teenager Tom Poland found an unusual way to earn money. He collected soft drink bottles from roadsides and returned them for a deposit, making a profit of up to a 'fistful of dollars' on good days.

The deposit system allowed him to turn a profit quickly with minimal upfront costs. A bag and a stick were all he needed to start collecting bottles, which he would then sell back to the store for cash.

Poland's experience with bottle collection taught him valuable lessons about life, including that 'nothing is free' and that work has its benefits. However, it also introduced him to dishonest behavior when a friend suggested stealing from the store's crates of bottles.

The deposit system eventually phased out as Royal Crown Cola introduced cans in 1955, followed by Coca-Cola test-marketing cans in 1959 and plastic bottles in the late 1970s. Poland prefers glass bottles over plastic ones, citing their authenticity and the satisfaction of collecting them.