With the cost of groceries these days making me feel like I need to take out a HELOC before I pick up milk and bread, I have one major bone to pick with food manufacturers. Where is the free stuff?
I had a wonderful conversation recently with a woman who recalls her grandmother collecting dishes for free with the purchase of oatmeal. My own grandmother amassed a gorgeous collection of amber wheat grass patterned drinking glasses one box of Duz detergent at a time. Each box offered a glass. Our family cherished those for the next four decades.
Towel
Growing up, I dried off after a bath with the towels Breeze or Rinso had packed into their soap boxes. I would not be the least bit surprised to find out my mom still had some of those towels. They were Cannon brand if I recall correctly and impossible to wear out. I’m probably showing my age to say “they just don’t make things like they used to.”
It has to be said because I feel like even my most premium towel is going to be hard-pressed to last five decades or more. Towels are also no longer just given away all willy nilly and free like that.
I had 45 rpm records of mostly forgettable covers of children’s songs that I cut off the back of a cereal box (yes, really).
Our grandparents drank gallons of Ovaltine, so they could earn decoder rings and badges tied to radio programs such as “Little Orphan Anne.” As a child in the 1970s, my favorite drinking cup growing up was a “Campbell’s Kids” plastic mug we received free with proof of purchase of Campbell’s soups. I was a major consumer of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. I honestly should have had more mugs. I just know everything tasted better in my plastic premium mug.
Cracker Jack had prizes (lick ‘em and stick ‘em tattoos being the undisputed BEST). Cereal had toys inside. I chose my favorites as much by freebies as by flavor. I don’t know that my mom ever figured out that I didn’t actually like Alpha Bits cereal but I did crave the superior level of prizes they offered.
Remember earning jackets and ballcaps? At a recent estate sale, I tried to explain to my young adult family members and fellow shoppers that all the “Marlboro” and “Camel” clothing in the closets came from people smoking enough to send in endless cigarette pack seals and shop from cigarette company “catalogs.” They were properly horrified and yes, I can kind of see why now. At the time it was just “hey cool jacket!” It’s probably best that it is no longer a trend. The Surgeon General says the free CD case isn’t worth it.
Jams and jellies came in glass jars we could reuse as drinking glasses. Those were adorable and perfect when you needed a thimbleful of juice.
What happened to all the good free stuff? Am I supposed to just purchase my bath towels and drinking glasses outright now?
I’m not saying I’d feel BETTER about paying upwards of $20+ for a box of Tide if they tossed in a towel or a tattoo, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t either.
