I grew up in Southern California and was a surfer girl in the early 60's. We used to hang out on the beach wearing two-piece swimsuits, the bottoms like huge men's boxers but in wild prints. Often we made the suits ourselves as no such surfer styles existed for girls in the stores. I was considered very surfer-cool because I would stand around the fire pit wearing my dad's old black wool coat, which hung down to my ankles but was very warm. For some reason, we all collected bottle caps. To my mother's despair, the bottom of my sister's and my closet was full of plastic garbage bags filled with all manner of bottle caps, picked off the ground wherever we went. I have continued to be a collector of various items, but none as unique as bottle caps. Pat from Syracuse, NY