Buying Black Babies, school Options

[rosie-k]

I still have the Black Samba bank, I got it when I was born , you can still put money in it and the kids and grandkids have all played with it.
They always get the money back they put in as it has no bottom.

[stuarty]

they black sambo banks are worth a few bob noo so if you want to sell him am sure u would get lots of black babies as they say

[gallowgategal]

I remember the black babies

Each card had 25 spaces and cost 1/2p each so it cost 12 1/2p to name a black baby. I usually called them after my aunts and uncles so there should be a few black 40+ year olds called Mona, Sadie, Archie, Frank and Harry

[toerag]

Stuarty, my husband had one of they banks when he was wee, so was always on the look out for a replacement, so he now has a wee collection, three of them, he bought one at the Barras in Glasgow!! He bought another at an antiques show in Toronto! On the bottom of one it has the name Jolly n----- bank, not politically correct in to-days society!

[stratson]

As a child, used to take the jelly jars for this cause, s'trange, canny remember ever fillin' a card, mind ye, ma da had quite a few o' his ain, possibly that's why!

[wilstar]

Much to my unfortunate circumstances of education, in consequence of attending a junior secondary school, I still recall the collections of the large pennies for the "Black Babbies". It was however, clearly explained by our teachers that this was not some form of laterday slave procurement but a charitable act. The purpose of the gathered revenue was to feed, clothe and educate the children of those less fortunate than ourselves residing in the "Dark Continent". This is not to say that we,(my class mates and myself) were of an affluent background, but, to the contrary we had parents who themselves were in fact struggling to make ends meet. Those of the immediate post WWII generation, will concur with my sentiments on this subject.

[Angel Eyes]

I remember buying loads of black babies and being able to give them all names that you were allowed to give them once you'd filled up your card. I was a wee lassie who liked her money's worth (still do!) so I would use every single bit of space at the bottom of the card once it had been filled up with pennies, and for one wee black baby, their name would go something like this, 'Eileen Geraldine Penelope Maria Esmeralda Kathleen Rose! God love them! Like they didn't have enough problems. I loved reaching the bottom of that card to give out another 10 names or so.

[Mario BROGAN]

Halo there Tommy,
I wouldny worrie about it too much A was convinced that the famous Black Babies were the Black Currant or liquorice version of Jelly Babies and couldnt understand why Miss O Neil always seemed to dissapear with the cash to then continue with the lesson, as if nothing had happened. Maybe it was in those days that I decided to join the POLICE............

[Dunvegan]

Highly recomended reading on this subject;
Elmore Leonard's "Pagan Babies"
You will never again contribute without thinking thrice!!!

[beth]

"Black Sambo" used to visit us every Friday to receive the pennies we so happily gave, just to see his hand throw the pennies down his throat. We were told it was to feed the starving black babies in Africa. Never thought then that I would be living amongst them!

[Melody]

I thought that it was the silver milk bottle tops that saved the black babies. Whit were we saving them for?

[TeeHeeHee]

Silver milk bottle tops? You must have been fae the posh side o' the railway line. We only had Alu tops
All these many years later and we're still being asked to contribute to the starving in Africa. The big Live Aid Concerts of the mid '80s under the leadership of Bob Geldorf were a great step forward but basically not much has really changed in the end; the starving goes on.

[Melody]

Och ye know whit ah mean. They were silver tae me, still are.

[ionnsaigh]

I thought that it was the silver milk bottle tops that saved the black babies. Whit were we saving them for?

Ours went to the convent on Roystonhill.

[benny]

Use tae be silver paper - including milk bottle tops, and the stuff frae the auld type fag packets - was saved "for the blind". Ah don't know whether they went tae a local blind charity, or tae the RNIB, or whatever, but that's whit ah remember savin it fur. Never heard of the "black babies" stuff though. Mebbe we were too skint tae ask fur donations.