Teapots and premiums

I'm showing my age here...but does anyone remember the 50s and 60s when companies gave away premiums with a purchase or sold items for box tops and a small amount of cash? My favorite is Dolly Parton talking about Breeze detergent on the Porter Waggoner TV show during the 60s. Breeze actually gave away dishtowels in their boxes of soap. (Makes you wonder how much soap you were missing in each box...) At each commerical Dolly would say with a giggle "You can't buy 'em! You can only get them in boxes of Breeze."

Well my favorite teapot is a gift from my mother...but it was also a premium from 70s. In 1976 my mother found herself an empty nester. Both my sister and I had married and moved out. Some time during this period, she started using Diet Imperial margarine. Diet Imperial began offering teacups/saucers as premiums. These bone china teacups and saucers were manufactured by Royal Windsor Bone China. Collecting the box tops and with a few extra dollars per item, my mother was able to collect 12 cups/saucers, 12 cake plates, sugar and creamer and this wonderful teapot.
Included with each china delivery were additional coupons for Diet Imperial.
When my mother gave me the complete set, she also included an old order form. Her selection was the "Forget-M-Not" pattern. And we know how much I love Forget-Me-Nots! While I suspect that Dolly's dishtowel wasn't made of the best material, this teapot is perfect and serves up a great pot of tea.