Friday, January 13, 2017

can of soup...

...opened this evening to go into a recipe I found and wanted to try. Made me think of my mom and her interest in anything Free. Even though I cannot recall the last time I opened and used any variety of Campbells's soup, looking at the label reminded me of a story I would now like to tell on my mom.

Prefaced by the fact that she was a child of the Depression era, and raised by people who were remarkably frugal, saving leftovers for soup pot, odd bits of string for tying together, rusty screws and bolts because you might need one just that size, bent nails to straighten out and re-use. As well as clothing to hand-me-down, then recycle again as quilt pieces. Thrifty to the bone.

When I was maybe not yet in my teens, she heard about a deal where you could send in ten labels from cans of Campbell's soup and get a free coffee mug. The mug was printed with the colors, in the same design as the paper labels on the cans, so it looked like you were drinking your morning coffee out of a soup can with a handle on it. Nothing fancy, but free.

Choppy went to all the neighbors and asked them to save labels from cans when they used the soup. But that did not produce enough labels to suit her. So she made my dad go with her to the city dump to root through trash and find more soup cans. I do not know how many mugs she ended up with, but there were Campbell's soup mugs around our house for years and years.

And likely still some of those 'free' mugs in the attic today. Probably a collectible now, but even after all this time, I doubt they have any real value. Other than a holder for a cup of hot tea or coffee, since they must have given away a gazillion. I had to laugh when I opened that can of soup and thought of her.  When she got a plan in her head, you better get out of the way....

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