Cash and Carry in a Bygone Era

Why is it that the few times you need cash anymore, all you have are twenties?

I’ve become so used to paying with a card that I forget to maintain at least an assortment of small denominations in my billfold. You know, paper money. The green stuff the clerk draws a line across to see if it’s real. Kind of like biting a nickel back in the old days.

Early on, I decided that money comes in pretty handy. And what’s money if you can’t see it and hold it in your hands? So, I saved what I could. Pennies, nickels and dimes at first but eventually there were quarters and even half-dollars when I was old enough to rake, mow and shovel for neighbors.

A paper route advanced me to paper money. That was back in the day when the carriers had to collect payment from customers. So I had to carry a bunch of change with me on collection night. And, of course, one customer proudly paid his bill in pennies.

We don’t carry coins much anymore. At least I don’t. I remember my brother Bruce and his little plastic oval coin purse that you opened by squeezing it. Cool. Back then coins were more useful since most candy, pop or a comic book was a dime. Lots of candy was just a nickel. And, of course, there was always penny candy.

Taxing Situations

When the state sales tax started, a dime didn’t reach the level of a tax unless you bought several candy bars. It was really crushing to buy something you’d saved and saved for only to be reminded at the checkout counter that there’s tax and you had no more money.

The folks set up a savings account for me when I was in about fourth grade. I didn’t like not having all of my money right in front of me. But when my little bank book was updated, it showed interest. Free money for doing nothing more than giving up the ability to hold it and show it off. I could live with that.

Of course, I still made sure I had spending money on hand. That’s what a billfold was for. It was a status symbol. You kept it in your back pocket to show it off. Never mind that it got so full of stuff that your butt hurt from sitting on it. And it wasn’t money that stuffed it. Just a lot of other useless stuff. I didn’t worry about it falling out or getting stolen because I could barely get it out myself.

Those billfolds also had a little coin pocket that snapped shut. You couldn’t store much in there but you might be able to make change. It seems like I carried a few quarters, dimes and nickels. No pennies, except for what you got in change.

Each of us kids had a piggy bank. They were common gifts back then to encourage us to save. Mine didn’t have a rubber stopper on the bottom. So the only way I could get the money was to break it. I didn’t think that was fair and because of that I didn’t save a lot in it. You also never knew how much you had in there.

Penny for Your Thoughts

Now we have come to the end of shiny new pennies. They’re still legal tender but will gradually disappear. I don’t think I’ve made change using pennies for years. If I get some as change, I put them in the “Take a penny, leave a penny” basket. Are nickels and dimes next? As the value of coins diminishes, maybe the basket will be renamed “Take a dollar, leave a dollar.”

We used to collect fifty-cent pieces. The dollar coin just never took off. Why would I want to carry heavy coins when paper dollars were much easier? The two-dollar bill used to be part of a joke. Then the government started printing them.

Quarters are kind of an odd coin. I used to save them for the car wash. I think a wash was $4. That’s 16 quarters for three minutes. I had to be ready to go, wand in hand, when I inserted the last coin.

Now you can pay for things with your phone or watch. It’s quite convenient. But we pay for that convenience with higher prices.

The only thing slowing down your purchase now is the guy ahead of you paying by cash.