Most of us have one. A box of childhood memories harboring our fifth grade report card and Dad’s cufflinks. Maybe a pair of Mom’s gloves or Grannie’s frayed handkerchief. We know the closet or drawer the box is in, but, forget exactly what it holds over time, then open it up and it is like a birthday present all over again as we rummage through our childhood.
I opened my little box of memories mid-December. It really wasn’t a box. It was a little blue suitcase with a decal on top that was mine as a very young child.
Among the contents was an envelope that I instantly recognized. It held a U. S. Savings bond. I fingered the paper and wondered, momentarily, what it was worth.
I made a mental note, which is not a good way for me to take notes, to ask about the bond at the bank.
Yes. I still go into the bank on occasion, mostly to run my change through the counter machine. I still horde dimes and quarters in containers until they fill up and off I go to turn them into paper money. Old habits die hard, don’t they?
This habit of saving dimes and quarters goes back to my childhood. In fact, the go back to the savings bond I was holding, which bore my father’s name and my maiden name. It was dated March, 1959. I was ten years old at the time of its issuance.
Savings bonds were sold as war bonds and go back as far as the founding of our country. The bond I held was an E bond and was first issued in 1941. They were sold for around $18.75 and matured in ten years. Basically, it was a way for Americans to save a bit while funding the war effort.
My bond was bought with dimes and quarters over a period of a few years time. Once a week, probably on Friday, children would be called after lunch by room number and go to a table near the principal’s office where a woman sat and took your money, then gave you a stamp for each coin. I’m sure most classmates brought dimes, but, some children did bring quarters. My coins were wrapped with tissue to keep them safe as I walked to school after lunch. We would lick the stamp and place it into a little book. Once the book was filled, a U. S. Savings Bond was issued. I’m sure the books of stamps must have stayed at school each week, for, I imagine the risk of children losing them to and from school would have played into the logistics. At ten cents a stamp, without an allowance, it took me quite some time to fill up my stamp book.
I’m sure my mom helped fund my efforts at times, but, most of the coins were mine: money earned helping my Aunt Christina clean house before the Club Girls came, or collecting soda bottles thrown by drivers out of their cars as they drove onto the ramp to the westbound Eisenhower Expressway, which was across the street. Four or five glass Coca Cola or Nehi bottles redeemed at the corner store would yield enough money for a savings stamp and a pretzel rod or some wax lips.
I did make a pre-Christmas trip to the bank. As my coins were whirling around being counted, one of the employees, who recognized me and my coin basket, made small talk. I got around to asking how I could redeem the bond, which was in my maiden name with my father as beneficiary. All I needed, he said, was my social security number. The young man was incredulous that, at age 10, I had no social security number. He was intrigued by how the bond was earned. He also told me that as of January 1, 2012, banks would no longer issue savings bonds. In fact, they would only be issued online.
The bond was worth a bit more than $25, but, not enough to take a vacation. The memories, however, were priceless, and my penchant for saving my dimes and quarters, invaluable.
Jennifer was given a $20 savings bond on her 2nd birthday. When we emptied the lock box many years later and found the forgotten bond, it was worth $100. It was maxed out and would earn no more so I just gave it to her and she cashed it in.
Jim and I both save change. He cashes his in every so often and sometimes has enough for our spending money on a trip. I use mine at Christmas time. It is kind of fun.
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The don’t even sell the e-bonds anymore, which was probably what you found. That was a nice little bit of extra money for Jennifer that she must have appreciated.
It’s amazing how much that loose change can add up to, isn’t it. I used mine at Christmastime, too.
Do you remember Patsy’s change box for her tips? We’d trade dollar bills for change for the vending machines.
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What a delightful story, and it brought up memories of how I would save my pocket money as a child. We were all taught to save then, and had banking day at school, when we would line up and bank our pennies into our first savings account. It certainly taught some good habits, and that saying, ‘Look after the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves’, has stuck in my memory (even though we have now changed to dollars and cents).
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I was hoping it would stir memories of saving for others, Juliet. What a great idea for banking day and we certainly heard that same saying and these activities of children certain did teach some good habits.
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Penny, what a wonderful training for a life being sensible with money! Wish they did bonds for our kids now.
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The same wish is for here as well, Kate. I think Great Britain had a similar program during the war years. Times were so different, but, it never hurts to learn to save.
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I loved this story about saving for the stamps going toward the savings bond. What a piece of Americana that is! I never had a savings bond or any way to save towards one at school, but your story reminded me of licking and sticking S&H stamps into books for my mom! I think, like your savings bond, these little things helped us to learn to wait for what we wanted and how a big part of the fun was the wait and the collection of the stamps.
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I only had that one bond from the program, Janet, and my sister, closer to your age, didn’t, so, I wonder if it was just phased out of schools then. Of course, she just might not have saved her dimes. ha! My mom had S & H Green Stamps. I think she got an iron with them.
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I do not remember purchasing a savings bond myself….but I was given several by my grandmother throughout my childhood. When I graduated from college, and a week before my wedding, my parents presented me with all the bonds that had been purchased in my name. It was a very special wedding gift from my grandmother who could not be present because she was taking care of her ailing husband.
Thank you for bringing back some fond memories of my own
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Savings bonds were a very common gift back then, Molly, and what a wonderful gift to be presented with upon your wedding and memory of your grandmother.
I’m so pleased this brought back some memories for you.
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How strange that yesterday we cleaned out the all purpose room closet and found a memory box and then today I read your post! Old wooden advertising whistles, a ration book, a paperweight with school picture of my husband and an almost identical paperweight with our oldest son’s school picture…. a memento or two from our honeymoon (48 years ago)…and many other things. It was fun to go through them together even if we didn’t find any bonds…..
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What a coincidence, Joyce, and what treasures you found yesterday. They were just as valuable as the bond and closer to your heartstrings. You remind me that somewhere there is a ration book from my parents. Sometimes I think I’ve kept too many things, then, there are other times I am so grateful to have them.
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What a lovely, memory-jogging post, Penny. I don’t remember a school-based saving scheme in the UK when I was a child, but our parents opened a Post Office savings account for each of us in turn and we learned to save our pocket money that way. I also remember the introduction of Premium Bonds, a government saving scheme with the chance of monthly prizes. I had a few small bonds but never won anything. 😦 I no longer save change, because I have to sort and count it myself and bag it up before taking it to the bank. No magic change-sorting machines in the banks in our area.
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What a bother it is saving up change and then sorting it, Perpetua. How I remember doing that. I don’t blame you. Our bank does it, for free, to customers. Some grocery stores also have machines, but, they charge, and I refuse to be charged for my pennies and dimes.
I love the sound of your Post Office savings account. There is something about actually handling the money and putting it into an account that has been lost in today’s techno-driven world. Thank you for sharing, Perpetua.
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Dear Penny,
This was a lovely posting, filled with remembrance and tenderness for that little girl of ten you were then. She had a goal and she worked, ten cents at a time, to achieve it. A valuable lesson. Yes. I so remember those red “wax lips.”
I find myself bemused and in awe and fascinated by memory. How a stamp for a bond can bring back a flood of images and happenings and words. The mind, the body, the heart–truly creation of beauty.
Peace.
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Thank you, Dee. It is those little goals of childhood that lead us to bigger ones, I think, and they help us with our disappointments as well.
Oh, they are such a creation, aren’t they, Dee? How one opens to the other is so wondrous. I hope we can all keep remembering as we build new memories.
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I’ve been curating bits and pieces of my grandson’s childhood in a Memory Box. The boy is now 6 years old. I even saved his very first tooth that fell out his mouth just last month.
Thank you for sharing with us the memories that are tied to your savings bond.
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What a wonderful idea to curate pieces of your grandson’s childhood! Some day he will open the box and there will be parts of his childhood to remember. I can’t think of a more loving gift for a grandparent to give.
You are so very welcome, Nerima.
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I remembered those stamp books when I read about banks no longer issuing the bonds — hadn’t thought of them for years and have no idea whatever happened to my bond (or if I even saved enough; I only remember one of my grade-school teachers passing out the books)..
We always save coins until we are getting ready to travel, then we exchange them for paper money. I like those tumbler machines so that you no longer have to sort and wrap them yourself.
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Oh, Sallie, I was beginning to think I was the only one who knew about the stamp books. I’m glad you remembered. My sister, a few years younger, couldn’t remember them. I think our school must have stopped doing this when she was old enough to participate. It was a good way to learn to save up.
Aren’t the machines the best? I’ve turned coins in for travel money. This year, I needed it for Christmas. I sure remember wrap them to turn in.
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