Quote:
Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington
Does anyone remember Stanton's pop wagon? Sarsaparilla out of a brown jug like bottle....the kind they use in the US for moonshine.....Dandelion and Burdock....supposed to have tonic properties...we just drank it because it was good.
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Like Barrie I used to deliver Stantons pop during the summer holidays while I was in the sixth form.
Stanton was a little tubby man, always smartly dressed and no-one was allowed in the upstairs room where he mixed the sarsaparilla and others-he said they were family secrets.
The drivers had Bedford wagons, always beautifully clean and they drove like absolute maniacs-they were on commision and as we sold a lot in Halifax, Huddersfield, Bradford etc they had to go over Blubberhouses(no motorways!) and that meant seriously fast driving to get there,sell and get back.
I'm sure we were loaded up and off by seven and didn't get back 'til late at night.We actually ran(so did the drivers) up and down those steep streets to sell as much as possible-those big stone jars got very heavy by evening, especially if you were carrying three or four at once.
We didn't get much pay but I remember finding out how much the drivers made-it was an absolute fortune in the late fifties.
Funnily enough the weather always seemed warm and dry- I don't remember getting soaking wet, just having to drink plenty of free pop.
Who knows, I might have sold some to you and your families!