It’s been a while since I wrote about old time memorabilia and I thought I would bring the loyal readers back to the summer and winter of 1966. Those simple times for those who can recall, would often mean collecting pop bottles and redeeming them for bubble gum at the local store or confectionary. Now growing up in Ottawa meant I didn’t have the luxury of old time corner stores like Parent’s at the corner of Montreal Road and Lefebvre. Gerry Parent had a baseball pinball game that cost a nickle and when visiting my grandmother her fist full of coppers meant a trip to Parent’s, redeem the pennies for nickels and at least five games. Right beside the pinball game was the Coke cooler and in the summer of ‘66 Gerry collected all the Coke caps for me. Now, I don’t recall much about that year (I was only six years old) except my brother Bruce was born, the Rough Riders lost 26-14 to the Roughriders in the Grey Cup and those Coke caps were adorned with the faces of CFL players in the summer and NHL players during the winter. It was pretty neat to enter the store and get a bag of smelly sticky caps collected just for me. What was more fun was finding your dad’s head on one. Part of the promotion was being able to send away for a plastic collectors board to hold your caps in. The CFL board was in the shape of a football with enough indents to hold one team. The NHL version was in a rink shape and held all six teams. We ordered the Ottawa board and completed the CFL set easily with Gerry’s help and mom’s ability to keep things neat. The NHL caps were scattered about and I don’t remember collecting them as faithfully. That, and the fact that drinking a Coke at age six was a rare treat.

The best memory was going into a grocery store in Ottawa and coming home with a six pack of six ounce Cokes all with dad’s face on the top. Mom was able to stealthily hide one away and we have it to this day, sealed they way we bought it all those years ago. Coke’s relative, Sprite also got into the act and these caps are very rare. In fact it is likely the one collectable of my fathers that I do not have or have ever seen. I see the caps on the auction sites and your treasure boxes hidden in attic’s and basement’s will likely yield a bag or shoe box full, but these finds are scarce.

Today these caps are very collectible and can fetch premium prices should you have a complete set. Condition is most important as they have a tendency to rust and the cork liners, yes kids I said cork has dried out if they were not stored properly. The fragile boards were made of thin plastic and it is rare to find one intact and not cracked even a little. Have a look and bring back a memory or two. For those of you that have sent well wishes for Moe the Toe, thank-you for keeping him in your thoughts and prayers. It’s been a tough battle and one that we hope he can keep fighting. Email; thom_racine@hotmail.com