I remember as a child collecting pennies and empties from everywhere I could. I did this fastidiously, every day whilst I was out adventuring (I was lucky enought to have a massive range as a child, about 20 square miles+). I would wash peoples cars, clean their windows, I would even walk 3 miles to the next village to collect my Mum's freind's 3 empties. Why you may ask, why go though all of this aggro every day as a child.

Mister Bacon

That lorry would pull up outside my house and I'd be out there like a rocket (my Mum's rule was simple, you want fizzy drinks and chocolate, you buy it!). I'd have empties and cash, not a lot mind but some. The empties where worth 10p on a new bottle (Eco Freindly or what??? Not like those shitty 1l plastic bottles), a new bottle only cost 20p. Dandilion and Burdock, Orange, Cherry, Strawberry all with a flavour so rich and sweet compared to todays low fat, low calorie, improved flavour gruel. Normally I would have 3 to 5 bottles and 20 or 30 pence, that allowed me 3 or 4 bottles. 3 for me and one for my little brother.

Each week Mister Bacon would arrive and I would religiously visit cashing in all I had and then, one day, the lorry stopped comming, the empty bottles littered around the village dissapeared, labels batter by wind and rain. And now, with all the databases and modern resources in the world, I can't find sight nor sound of Mister Bacon anywhere :(

I wanted to build a shrine to Mister Bacon on this very page but alas eveidence that he even exsisted is very VERY hard to come by.

If you have child hood memories of Mister Bacon visiting your street please share them with me and I'll publish them here. The lorrys have gone, the bottles have gone, fizzy drinks now all taste the same but, as many people have said in the past, Mister Bacon lives on in the memory of myself, my younger brother and no doubt, many of you.

 

Comments


On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:16:13 +0100 Ben in Kent though we needed to know:
My wife and I were sitting here this evening watching a commercial for the 'new' soda-stream. We started talking about the 'old' days and remembered Mr.Bacon too.
We're 38 years old, and grew up in North Kent (swale) and have many fond memories of the exotic, sickly sweet, delicious beverages :-) You're not alone !!

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On Tue, 07 Sep 2010 22:38:52 +0100 Martin though we needed to know:
I really remember this too! I grew up in Canterbury and remember being so excited on Saturday mornings when the lorry came down the road! I think the picture on the front was of Mr Bacon himself drinking cherryade out of a cocktail glass!

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On Wed, 08 Sep 2010 16:05:41 +0100 Hairy-Cheese though we needed to know:
I love it, build a Mr Bacon shrine and link it thru facebook. Build it and they will come! I have fond memories of the summer holidays living in Rochester, Kent when the Mr Bacon lorry would pull up, we'd give him the empties and buy the new fizzy drinks! Awesome! I'm forty now and even remember the odd bottle exploding in those hot summer days! A broken bottle would make you cry as it was a waste! (10p for a corona or Mr Bacon bottle was alot of cash back then).
I had this discussion many moons ago saying we'd have less litter if we made people pay an extra 10p for a product which they got back when they recycled. When I lived in Holland I used to return my empty plastic bottles in the supermarket and get a cash back receipt to use at the check-out! And if people are too lazy, kids and tramps will clean up the little! Hell, put it on crisp packets too, make it law to have money back litter!

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On Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:16:47 +0100 Jon Mills though we needed to know:
I think Mr Bacon is a myth...

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On Sun, 28 Nov 2010 22:25:44 +0000 Darren though we needed to know:
it was found in lydden (near dover) by user unfairytale on kent history forums. there was a thread on the forum about bing red lemondade which took a side track to mr bacon. ive lived in the medway towns all of my life and had never heard of bing before! another regional thing perhaps.

back on the topic of mr bacon, about 2 months ago myself and family were racking our brains trying to remember the name of the fizzy pop vendor that drove round our streets with lorry full of wonder !! bacon? Dr bacon? Mr bacon ?? thats it! anyway i found this little blog with some random googling last week.

i'm in sittingbourne and vividly remember the truck, so do family. i'm thinking cola, cherryade, orangeade, limeade, cream soda, lemonade. i seem to remember stout 1 litre glass bottles that r-whites continued to use into the 1990s. a friend at work remembers mr bacon and he grew up in minster (isle of sheppey)

i've asked around and 2 people said the truck(s), atleast for us, emerged from united dairies site along with milk floats and other services. the site just about still exists in sittingbourne, its just had a BP garage built on the front, next to milton pipes on mill way.

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On Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:15:31 +0000 though we needed to know:
Started 1959

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On Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:17:50 +0000 though we needed to know:
Two brothers and their father started this company. Best wishes to all my old staff.
Harry Bacon

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On Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:46:10 +0000 though we needed to know:
Started November 1959
Door-to-door delivery
New premises built in 1963
At one time employed 70 staff
Extra depot opened in Sandwich 1980
Nothing to do with any dairies
Had twenty lorries on the road

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On Fri, 01 Apr 2011 09:26:13 +0100 darren though we needed to know:
quite right, mr bacon were OPPOSITE united dairies in sittingbourne, my mistake, it was on the yard now occupied by stmichaels car sales, opposite the new BP garage. apparantly it was corona that were linked to dairies.

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On Thu, 26 May 2011 16:27:07 +0100 dazscottuk@googlemail.com though we needed to know:
My dad use to drive for these i rembember going out with him as a young lad on saturday mornings!! from the Depot in Sandwich....

Brillant company.. Great pop!!

Cheers Darren..

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On Sun, 21 Aug 2011 08:47:27 +0100 Manlove though we needed to know:
4 bottles were 1 pound
I remember it well

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On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 10:43:48 +0100 though we needed to know:
My uncle owned Bacon Soft Drinks, my dad worked for them for years, taking me out on the lorries when I was a child. Best memory ever? Standing on the back of the lorry as it trundled down the streets during the summer holidays, free bottles of fizzy drinks and playing in the yard. They changed their name to Cherry Transport for a short while, down sizing to smaller vans. I loved every minute of it, wished I had kept one of the empties now, that label will stay with me forever.
Times may change, but memories will always stay.
Peace.

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On Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:02:26 +0000 steve though we needed to know:
Mr Bacons was on the site of the new BP garage. I seem to remember a company called Taylor Maid or Made was on the site before. They used to store empty crates on waste ground outside and asd kids we would play amongst them. My mate was a lorry drivers mate with bacons and I went along one day, bloody hard work it was too. As soon as we pulled up in a street loads of little fat kids would come running out. Probably too much pop !

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On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:47:48 +0100 stuart-healy@sky.com though we needed to know:
We had a Mr Bacon lorry go round Swanscombe when i was a kid .My mum would buy drinks off him every week but when it came to christmas my mum would buy three crates full wish ment we had every flavour you could think of .I loved the dandilion and berdock, when you buy it now its not the same.:0( i miss the klinking of the bottles in the lorry.

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On Sat, 14 Apr 2012 13:47:48 +0100 Gary Newing-Morrow though we needed to know:
Wow!! Was sat at work when a name came up - Mr Bacon - it was not anything to with soft drinks BUT I said that I used to work for Mr Bacon when I was a boy of 14. NOBODY knows what I'm talking about so I googled it and found this thread. I had no idea that people would be interested....I haven't though of it in years.
Anyhow - here's what I can share:-
I worked for Harry Bacon (& Paul his son) - Harry says hi further up the thread) from September 1981 for 2 or more years.
I worked with Ian (I think) and his 17 yr old helper Mick Foley (good guys).... we were on 'Saturday Round 2' in Buckland Dover and late afternoon up in Whitfield.
I later worked Sundays too in Dover also but over to Cheriton again later in the day.
Great memories, good decent people.
We worked out of Stonar industrial estate and the highlight was the breakfast in the cafe just as we left the estate.. bizarrely chips and tea with a mars bar seemed to be the favourite. What an eye opener for a niave 14 yr old, out working with 6 truck drivers, 6 mates and 5 other Saturday lads. A great experience for life I reckon.
I still remember (& yes I know its bizarre but it was because it was the record before and since - until I left at least) that helping out on an extra day at Christmas in the Millmead Estate Margate that we HAND DELIVERED 144 crates of 12 bottles - thats 1728 bottles!! door to door.
Was exhausting - snow, cold, walking (ate several chocolate bars to keep going)....and got more in tips than wages that day!!!
People I remember - Harry (the boss).... if he sees this; Harry,this is Gary from Westwood area - you used to pick me up and I still remember the jazz and cigar smoke in the Ford Capri on the way to Sandwich"....Paul (his son - good guy), Mick, Ian (my friend who got me the job), Ashley from under the viaduct in Ramsgate, Mark Joyce.... thats it...
Best Flavours: NEVER BETTERED: Pineapple Crush
Seemed so posh: Gold lemonade (same flavour but gold coloured?!)
used to be paid £5.00 Saturday and £7.50 Sundays BUT in 1981 and still at school FELT RICH!!
One last thing - health and safety (mmmm??)... we used to ride around hanging onto the rear view mirrors standing on step up into van/truck doors.... you couldn't do that in 2012!!
Just glad to know people enoyed the lemonade and cola etc
Gary - Saturday Boy 1981 to 1983

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On Wed, 27 Nov 2013 17:16:28 +0000 Alaster.H though we needed to know:
God!, i miss Mr Bacon's ice cream soda. The Mr Bacon lorries were legend.

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On Sun, 11 May 2014 01:26:43 +0100 Sarahanne though we needed to know:
I'm now in my 40's but my big bro Sean and I couldn't wait for Saturday mornings, for the roar of Mr Bacons lorry pulling up outside.
Sean's favourite was limeade, mine was strawberry and ice cream soda.
We was lucky, my mum brought a whole crate once a week, full of all different wonderful flavours.

Such a shame it ended, Mr Bacons holds good memories from my childhood.

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On Tue, 16 Dec 2014 09:07:53 +0000 Andy B though we needed to know:
Growing up in Sandwich the Mr Bacon delivery every week was probably the most exciting thing to happen ;)
I still remember all the empties lined up by the door each week ready for the new delivery.
Mr Bacon was the only fizzy drink we ever had until the deliveries stopped :(

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On Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:33:34 +0100 mich.har@hotmail.co.uk though we needed to know:
I have fond memories of Mr. Bacon turning up every wk & hearing the clanging of the glass bottles. We have some glass bottles in the car as we speak & this bought up our memories so decided to google it haha. Its so nice to read others memories too. It sounds silly but was an exciting time when the lorry turned up :)

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On Tue, 23 Jun 2015 10:46:54 +0100 Hairy-Cheese though we needed to know:
Ahhhhhhhh.... summer holidays... the lorry would turn up and we'd hand in the old bottles and get the new! Many flavours of fizz.... Mister Bacon was more popular than the ice cream man! I lived in Rochester near Warren Wood boys school and we'd purchase our bottles of fizz and drink then with relish! I just had a mad turn seeing the Banana Splits on facebook, remembering the tune, the Musketeers cartoon and suddenly Mister Bacon popped in my head! Great memories.... Red Arrows flying over as I drunk my fill of Bacon ;)

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On Tue, 23 Jun 2015 10:52:59 +0100 Hairy-Cheese though we needed to know:
Well it looks like I'd found this side before in 2010! where's the facebook page? LOL
ps I'm disturbed with some of the robot beating wording at the bottom of the page. I'm unhappy with what I just needed to write!

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On Tue, 23 Jun 2015 14:01:36 +0100 Robert Geake though we needed to know:
Indeed Mr Hairy, you did find this site before. As you can see the 20 odd comments here hardly warrant a facebook page and all the aggro that entails!

Out of interest, what words did you need to write? They were all chosen to be non aggressive every day words! There is really only one in there that could be taken the wrong way but I guess that would only be if you have that kind of mind :)

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On Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:59:34 +0100 LemonKing though we needed to know:
Yes, I remember Mister Bacon.. It' a shame we don't instill this kind of recycling ideologies into our kids these days. The throw away society will be the end of us!

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On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 19:09:38 +0000 Mark though we needed to know:
Mr Bacons!. I spent a couple of years working for Mr Bacons as a runner(Sandwich). worked with all the drivers through 1984-1986 I think... OMG those were the days.. forget confessions of a window cleaner!!! and as for health and safety!?!
I recall heading along the old Whitfield road in the big dip... A few cases were loose so I got out of the passangee door whilst the driver( don't worry your secret is safe with me) drove the 12 tonne Bedford TK at 50 mph.. scrambled out along the side and then on top to secure the cases.. job done.. reverse journey and back in... Time was important.. when we finished we could go home!
Another occasion my buddy Steve joined us as a Saturday boy and promptly got mowed down when he ran in front of a car without looking.. he was safe buy hurt!
So many stories... Counting and sorting the coins at the end of the day was a race .. in fact the whole job was.
17.yrs old.. the Bedford was the first vehicle I drove.. I got my liscence a few years later.
We used to swap drivers whilst trunddling along A roads!
As for the rest.. Paul.. remember Belinda? ... 17 years old.. knocking on doors fro. Dusk til Dawn around Kent.. Happy days..fond memories even if I fell off of the side and my leg went under the back wheels when we were delivering pop down a Thanet street.. hmm Mr Bacon..you were going way too fast , but I forgive you!Happy Days.

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On Thu, 16 Jun 2016 23:45:01 +0100 stu.i@outlook.com though we needed to know:
I remember this as yesterday. I was In the shop buying a bottle of limeade. I binned most of It as It tastes so so poor, pretty naff actually. Then I remembered my teen years of seeing Mr Bacon's lorry driving to the house. WOW!!!!!! what memory to have. The drinks tasted so dam good.... well better than good, amazing actually. How the drinks have gone down hill at speed these days. I'm 40 years old now, and I never understood why Mr Bacon stopped!!!!! If only he would return. OMG It's a life long memory. well.... We can only wish. Come back Mr Bacon.
Stuart

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On Mon, 27 Jun 2016 22:26:54 +0100 Duffwater though we needed to know:
I grew up on the buckland estate in Dover in the seventies and eighties and vividly remember the Mr bacon lorry arriving each week. I felt really grown up taking responsibility for the empty bottles and the added bonus that you got money back for them!! Who knew how progressive we were with our recycling in the soft drinks industry?! Great childhood memories, forever linked with dandelion and burdock. If I remember rightly, his picture showed him with white curly hair under a hat.. . but happy to be corrected on that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I can at least share these with my husband,who grew up in the West Midlands and so has no idea what I'm talking about!!

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On Wed, 17 Aug 2016 09:03:23 +0100 mr bacon though we needed to know:
Hey guys I was lucky enough to work for me bacon's in the late 80's delivering from Ramsgate,minster,monkton to name a few and loved every minute of it.Gary lad if your still out there please get this great company going again.

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On Sun, 28 Aug 2016 21:48:31 +0100 Del though we needed to know:
I remember this in Faversham as a boy - was it also not Mr Bacon that used to sell the "Flavoured Cup" drinks too? I recall a rum flavour cup and a cherry one I think. Might be getting mixed up but damn I loved those drinks. But I sure remember going to my granddad for some change to get something from the Mr Bacon lorry :)

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On Sun, 19 Feb 2017 09:33:08 +0000 Martian Tom though we needed to know:
I used to work at Canterbury Wholefoods in the '90s and Jim Bacon and his wife were regular customers. Smashing people they were, too - always cheerful. I recognised him the first time I saw him because of the cartoon face of him winking, which used to be on the lorries. They retired to Chestfield. I often wonder if they're still alive. He must be in his 80s now, I would think - maybe older.

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On Fri, 09 Jun 2017 20:58:39 +0100 Tiff though we needed to know:
Just driving home educating our 13 year old daughter to the wonders of Mr Bacon. So funny reading the comments and thank you all for your time writing them:-)

I def remember Limeade and the American cream soda. Would love to see a picture of a truck or label or bottle.

Used to stop right outside our house in Eythorne sat morning. 10ish. Had a whole crate full once

Love it

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On Fri, 08 Sep 2017 23:48:16 +0100 Langdale34 @aol.com though we needed to know:
Mr Bacon was my life long friend I met him when I was 13 I worked as his office girl when he owned Pirate swim suit factory in Ramsgate.He came to my wedding.I left for America we stayed in touch all of these years..sadly Mr Jim Bacon passed away this year at the age of 98 He was a true gentleman. He wrote to me regularly.So nice to see all these happy memories of him...

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On Sun, 15 Jul 2018 17:51:09 +0100 Debsie though we needed to know:
Oh mr bacon!!!! We were only allowed it at Christmas! I remember the nuclear looking limeade and dandelion and burdock! I seem to remember the strawberry too that's mentioned above ! It was so exciting seeing the lorry come up the road x I miss feeling that excited lol or maybe it was the E numbers ha!!!! I am 45 now and living miles away in Cumbria but I still talk about this now as my childhood cristmasses with cherryaid and dodgy lights make me smile! mr bacon you created so many nice memories ❤️❤️

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On Sat, 25 Jan 2020 17:53:17 +0000 Mark Rose though we needed to know:
Health and Safety!??? I learnt ot drive in our Bedford TK, we used to have a riot - as a full time member, I was a runner and worked with Harry and Paul. A few drivers, up until I jumped on to the side of the moving lorry( we did this to speed things up), fell off and crushed my leg under the rear 2 wheels! Should have learnt when my best mate Steve Killbery got run over in Dover. Having said all that, I loved working there - from 84-86! Oh, the stories I could tell....

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On Mon, 23 Nov 2020 19:46:41 +0000 beemerbits@hotmail.co.uk though we needed to know:
I’ve recently bout some labels off eBay, such a nostalgia trip!

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On Wed, 06 Apr 2022 18:25:21 +0100 andymathews@ntlworld.com though we needed to know:
Went to school with Gary mr Bacons son
Would luv to catch up Gary if you read this
Andy Mathews. (Rolli).
Or try Facebook.

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On Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:00:30 +0000 Anonymous though we needed to know:
My family were the ones who run mr bacons. My dad, uncle and grandad were drivers for them for many years

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On Thu, 01 Feb 2024 12:23:22 +0000 George Bacon though we needed to know:
Harry Bacon (the owner) and my grandad has unfortunately passed, but his sons Gary bacon, Paul bacon & Martin bacon are all good and enjoying life!!

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On Fri, 02 Aug 2024 21:27:58 +0000 Jayne Bean though we needed to know:
My mum and dad were good friends with Jim and his wife Diddy. Does anyone know if Diddy is still alive. ?

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