This definitely isn't just a Scotland thing... I grew up in Alabama and this was common there, and honestly I've seen this all over rural America. It's very common for farm stands during the harvesting season.
Still, cool website, I enjoyed a few articles there even if this one was very short.
We have these too in Switzerland, ranging from simple like in the article to full farm stores like this:
https://www.leimbihof.ch/bio-laden
Last time I was there they had a milk cow full fillet/tenderloin (among many other things) for around $280 (converted from chf). The store is completely unmanned and you pay electronically. If there are cameras they're not obvious.
I was in Cyprus many many years ago. Driving along we saw a sign for a bar and stopped. Under a canopy of vines were tables and chairs, a fridge full of beer, a price list, and a plastic tub with some money in it.
A friend and I took a trip from Sheffield to Glasgow just before an election, and on a grim and dark winter evening we went out into the barely-lit backstreets looking for a particular pub. A group of 6 or so well-built young men approached us, ..."Hey lads, are you proud to be Scottish?", "Er, I suppose we would be if we were Scottish, but we're from Yorkshire ...". This being not long after "Trainspotting" was released, I was half-expecting a knife to be pulled, but no "Oh sorry lads, we're just canvasing for the Scottish independence, ... you having a good night? ..."
I found several things like these last year while doing a pilgrimage through Camino de Santiago[1] in northern Spain. The idea that people, after days or even weeks of walking stayed, at the very least, honest enough to keep it happening, moved me to a large degree.
We have chickens and I'd love to do an honesty box. Problem is we live in an English city and it's extremely low-trust like most English cities these days.
It's not even that I worry someone would steal the eggs that concerns me most, it's that a lot of people would probably think it's funny to throw them at cars or house/shop windows.
I'd love to live some where where this is possible... I heard that Lee Kuan Yew on visiting England in the 50s saw an honesty box and was inspired by how civilised the English were.
Not sure what's happened to us since then... You definitely couldn't do that now. We're like a completely different people. Although it's nice to see that this practise does still live on in some rural communities.
Also – the honesty "box" in that lead picture is absolutely beautiful...
Lived in rural Australia with this as commonplace. Fwiw the neighbour did have someone take the whole box one day. He did run after it and get a numberplate since he was close to the box at the time.
That's one thing about these, it's not that no one would ever steal them as if there's some magic in these areas that leads to zero theft. After all anyone can drive out there. They exist because there's little choice but to accept some losses since you can't staff a store selling small amounts of produce.
For all the comments along the lines of "society has gone to shit, look how nice it once was" just remember that theft still happens and these honesty boxes were always done out of raw necessity.
Also Australian and can confirm once you get on main-ish roads a certain distance from major population areas these were a thing (at least quite a few years ago, don't drive so haven't recent data on this stuff).
It's nice to think there is some trust/faith in humanity once you get a certain distance away from the frenetic pace of life in cities.
On a related note, have recently finished (with my wife) a bottle of Adnamurchan whisky - highly recommended, although I'm more of an Islay guy.
Also spent 2.5 years living in Scotland - those blue sky photos are the exception, not the norm.
They have these in the rural parts of Kansas and Missouri.
My mom has a country vet that she gets medication for her animals from and the vet just has a box in front of his farm where he puts the medication for his various patients after doing a phone consult. Patients take the medication and leave cash.
I was stunned when I saw it the first time and realized that there really is another way to live.
I know a guy who is from Brazil, he was utterly shocked that honesty boxes existed. I doubt they are universal. And they probably require a high trust society.
Very common in New England to have honesty system for various farm goods especially in exurban/rural locations. Often there are, stands that usually high school kids are looking after, but having just something with a payment box by the side of the road is pretty common. In fact, near where my brother has a house in Maine, there's a cheesecake store that doesn't routinely have someone there.
I live in Scotland, have two former racing greyhounds, and I'm very grateful for a local farmer who has a dog run / playpark with an honesty box we can drop something in to help with upkeep when we give our two a nice run.
I once stayed at an honesty box motel near Hell's Backbone (a road through rough country in rural Utah). There was a basket of keys on the porch and a sign that said, "We're out. Please take a key and leave $20." The place hadn't been cleaned in a while, but I was very happy to stay there as there was nowhere else nearby and I had fallen ill.
There was a dog with heterochromia and a llama nearby, watching us as we left the money and chose a key. It was quite the memorable place. For years afterwards my wife referred to it as "the hotel run by a dog and a llama".
The farm store honesty boxes are less common here in Canada, but we absolutely have a lot of them for campsites -- unstaffed camping areas that might get cleaned weekly (yet have basic facilities, such as a pit toilet/benches/fire rings), and just have a cash dropbox for camping fees.
We also have them in Germany and not just in the countryside, but also in big cities. This very common especially in the current weeks in summer when all the fruits are ripe. But it is not so formal as in the picture, it is mostly just a plastic bag, or a cartoon box on a table with the price on the cardboard. Child toys, furniture and honey is of course available the full year. In the alps milk and cheese is very common. I don't think we have a special name for this, it's just somebody selling something.
This concept also exists in some smaller hotels, there it's called "Kasse des Vertrauens".
I think people who would steal something from them fail to understand that everything in society is based on trust. Stealing erodes that, and I can't comprehend living in a society were this concept can't exist. It seams to me that this is the meaning of society and civilization.
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 29.9 ms ] threadStill, cool website, I enjoyed a few articles there even if this one was very short.
Last time I was there they had a milk cow full fillet/tenderloin (among many other things) for around $280 (converted from chf). The store is completely unmanned and you pay electronically. If there are cameras they're not obvious.
A delightful moment among many.
Nice place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camino_de_Santiago
It's not even that I worry someone would steal the eggs that concerns me most, it's that a lot of people would probably think it's funny to throw them at cars or house/shop windows.
I'd love to live some where where this is possible... I heard that Lee Kuan Yew on visiting England in the 50s saw an honesty box and was inspired by how civilised the English were.
Not sure what's happened to us since then... You definitely couldn't do that now. We're like a completely different people. Although it's nice to see that this practise does still live on in some rural communities.
Also – the honesty "box" in that lead picture is absolutely beautiful...
That's one thing about these, it's not that no one would ever steal them as if there's some magic in these areas that leads to zero theft. After all anyone can drive out there. They exist because there's little choice but to accept some losses since you can't staff a store selling small amounts of produce.
For all the comments along the lines of "society has gone to shit, look how nice it once was" just remember that theft still happens and these honesty boxes were always done out of raw necessity.
It's nice to think there is some trust/faith in humanity once you get a certain distance away from the frenetic pace of life in cities.
On a related note, have recently finished (with my wife) a bottle of Adnamurchan whisky - highly recommended, although I'm more of an Islay guy.
Also spent 2.5 years living in Scotland - those blue sky photos are the exception, not the norm.
I also have a friend who keeps chickens in Seattle (inside the city). He tried an honesty box for excess eggs, but they just got stolen.
There was a dog with heterochromia and a llama nearby, watching us as we left the money and chose a key. It was quite the memorable place. For years afterwards my wife referred to it as "the hotel run by a dog and a llama".
This concept also exists in some smaller hotels, there it's called "Kasse des Vertrauens".
I think people who would steal something from them fail to understand that everything in society is based on trust. Stealing erodes that, and I can't comprehend living in a society were this concept can't exist. It seams to me that this is the meaning of society and civilization.
Edit: And yes of course that is all with cash.