The title of this blog entry has nothing to do with this entry. I just felt like writing ‘mama luke’. I heard Bob De Niro use it once in the film ’Raging Bull’. I’ve also heard guys from Manhattan Beach use it in the past.
Anyways, glad to hear all the Huns had a great time last Friday night at Farrell’s. Thanks for the feedback and the pictures. I am hoping to get back to the next one for sure. They are thinking of making me an honorary member! I’m gonna be ‘made”! Just hope I don’t have to go through an initiation…
Ok so I was in a restaurant in Jersey City with my wife and daughter on our last visit back to New York a few weeks ago and to my surprise I saw this old school cigarette machine standing alone at the front of the joint!
It brought back so many memories-I thought these things were obsolete!
My father used to get his Kool menthol’s out of the machine in Timboo’s and he would grant me the honor of feeding the machine with quarters. After putting the quarters in, I’d pull the lever and out would come the pack of cancer sticks. There’s was always that small box of matches to the side of the machine or on top.
While waiting for my bacon and eggs at this greasy spoon in Jersey City two things struck me as I stared at this machine wide-eyed; one, notice the price for a pack of butts, $9.00! Two, I’m thinking to myself, ‘damn that’s a lot of quarters you have to feed it‘. But lo and behold to the right of the machine is one of those dollar bill acceptors.
Has anyone seen these cigarette machines anywhere?
Mama Mia!
-Steve
Hoops135@hotmail.com
The last one I seen was in McBears. And in the bottom tray the oldtimers crazy glued a quarter, nickel and a dime to the bottom of the tray just to watch the people try to recover the money thinking it was there change. I watched it myself on a few occasions and it was pretty funny.
Jack, nine bucks for a pack of cigarettes?
Wow, I havent seen a machine like that since, 1970 about when cigarettes cost about 55 cents. I started smoking in the 5th grade, sneaking my dads cigarettes, Kents!!! Margie Shields and I would go over to the park, and puff away, I really thought it was cool to smoke. I thought it looked sexy also until I saw those tv commericals yrs ago, right before the pople pass away, and this particular women said, DO I LOOK SEXY NOW?? That was about 24yrs ago when I stopped smoking!!! I still love the smell when you first light up, after that first puff eveyone smells like an ash tray. Those early on, activities are no longer apart of my life today. Cant belive 9.00 $$ OMG.
Back in 1970 I use to sell cartons of cigerettes for my boss down in Red Hook for 3 bucks a carton. At $ 3.00 a carton even I started smoking but when he went away for a short vacation courtesy of the government I quit. Now it’s $9.00 a pack, wow!!That’s a pecentage increase of ah…..ah….alot
Quit when they were a buck! 32 years ago. Still looks attractive to me on occasion.
I just left Ireland and am in Italy now and it reminds me of the old days when smoking was all over.. there is not much smoking in restaurants in either. An uncle of mine quit smoking about 20 years ago and he would take a cigarette break. He was about 6’4 and stand behind smokers and inhale the smoke he missed it so much…