Well, maybe it was a regional thing but I can recall liquor stores recording numbers from a keg, tap, and license of the person purchasing the beer. In that case, my understanding is because they wanted their tap and keg back – not so much to “track” who purchased it (unless they bailed out with their equipment).
I recall that it was a $50 deposit for tap and $50 for the keg (plus the plastic ice bucket/garbage can).
I have no idea what their real value was, but they seemed more interested in getting their empty keg and tap back than keeping your $100. That could’ve been some sort of ID put on by the distributor or something, I suppose.
We usually used a cow trough. Holds four half kegs and about another two cases of singles around the sides (for when the kegs run dry and the beer store is closed), add 12 to 15 bags of ice, top off with about 10 gallons of water out of the garden hose and dude, you're good to go.
Now, where's that bushel?!
Oh yeah, almost forgot... Invite all the neighbors, cuts down on the police calls.