Back in the day, this ^ is how we raised money for Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, school clubs, ball teams, etc. They were called "paper drives." It was a simple time when the concept of recycling was years in the future. Yesterday's paper was useful for wrapping fish and lining the bird-cage, but the rest? I'm pretty sure people threw their old newspapers in the garbage.
When it was fundraising time, we kids went around the neighborhood asking people to save up their papers for the next month, and to please tie them in liftable bundles with string. Then on a Saturday when a parent with a large vehicle was available, we went around to the houses to collect and take them down to a place where they were weighed, and we received a payout according to the poundage. Some folks were super diligent about saving their papers and had stacks and stacks many feet high waiting in their garage. We Scouts thought we had hit the jackpot at those homes.
Apparently what killed paper drives as a fund-raiser, was recycling. Who knew? Depots were inundated with newspapers that people were glad to get rid of on a weekly basis, and that drove the price for newspaper into the basement. The last paper drive I can remember was at least 25 years ago.
By the way, when I googled "paper drives," in addition to the photos above, this "paper drive" came up! How times have changed ;-)
Ha! Love that last picture.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this. I always enjoy the variety of your posts. I feel I learn a little about all sorts of random subjects.