Subj : Cars
To   : Joe Mackey
From : George Pope
Date : Mon Jul 11 2022 16:43:26

> WV was one of the first states to prohibit the sell of alcohol in 1914.
> (It went national in 1920).
> When Prohibition was repealed in 1933 WV only allowed near beer, I think
> three per cent.  This lasted until the '80s or '90s.
> Nor could an establishment be called a "saloon".  A local place here went
> to court about that in the late '80s and won.

This was your childhood era/location?

In my hometown (now officially a city) they had no Sunday shopping laws in  place until a semi-local billionaire took the city to cou8rt on religious  rights basis & won. (He refused to close his grocery stores on Sundays, then  refused to pay the fines given to him each time the cops showed up)

I had no skin in that one -- mattered nought to me.  If the stores were closed  any day, I got what I needed another day.

I grew up in the era where if you didn't withdraw enough money by 3pm Friday,  you had no cash to use on Tuesday! & withdrawals had to take place at the  counter!

I was a young teen when Chargex first appeared in my town, & I watched it  evolve into Visa. I also saw lottery games brought in -- they insisted it would benefit schools, , & kids' sports -- guess which three groups get gutted the  worst each year, in spite of gaming revenues being HUGE?

> Liquor by the drink was limited to only "clubs" and not until the 1950s.
> Each bar was a "club" and membership was like 50 cents a year and had to
> show a club card whenever one ordered.  If known to the bartender/owner they
> didn't have to show it, but have

We have this for the Legion & A.N.A.F. (Army, Navy, Air Force Veterans clubs);  only members allowed in, to drink the cheaper beer & eat the better priced  quality food.  You're either a full member (veteran) or Auxiliary (child of a  veteran--that was my status -- my dad was too far away to get him to sign me  in, so the bartender just assigned one of his staff to sign with him(needed two to sponsor/recommend), recommending my acceptance.)

The one ANAF club didn't have too strict a membership policy, as they liked  having the college kids from across the street coming in & spending money  daily.

I got the membership anyhow, to support it with my dues. & I liked being a card carrying member of the old "Bucket of Blood"(its nickname from the days where  it was a big fighting spot); it was shortened to just "The Bucket" by the time  I discovered the place. I'm no fighter, but I liked beer being half the price  of my local pub & a roast beef dinner, with everything, for only $5 on Fridays. . . & free snooker on a proper 5X10 slate table, sometimes shuffleboard, which  I learned there.

Then I moved to a neighboring suburb, & hadn't made it there for ten years, &  now it's gone & their space is now a dance studio for kids.

'twas a wee pain, as I had to go in the main door, at the top of a 6-step 
stairwell, & hollerfor the bartender to get two guys to haul out the ramp & let me in the back doors (big enough to drive a vehicle through), as I was in a  wheelchair by this point.


>> you don't drink beer to get drunk; you drink beer because you like/want/need
> to pee;
> Or like the old saying: You don't buy beer, you only rent it.

Exactly. Coffee's the same.

>> get drunk you drink whiskey
> I was the opposite.
> I could drink liquor and didn't faze me, but a few beers put me under
> the table.

My first drunkenness was guzzling about 32 ounces of straight Canadian Club rye whiskey like it was ginger ale, then asking for more, as it tasted good, but  luckily my friend knew what was coming (&, yup,. hit me in about 40 minutes --  BOOM!!! 11 years old & I was 'faced, barely able to stand, but I had to travel 
about 4 miles home within a half hour, & not get caught for having been  drinking (I just knew it would get me in trouble); I made it home okay  (hitchhiked 2.5 of the miles & jogged the rest); It kind of immunized me  against hard liquor -- I could drink lots asa teen & no real effect.  But  beer/wine were the same --even less of any buzz (I could get a buzz from  liquor, or a full high from weed--this was years before it was officially legal up here; some places the cops only stop you to ask to share a joint with you.

I was 14yo & had occasion to share my joint with a cop, while he drove us up to a park outside the downtown area, as our drinking & toking could only make him  look bad, as he was assigned the main drag. I had respect for him.

>> '69 Cougar (w/ the wrap-around tail lights)
>> '67 Mustang (w/original leather buckets)
> I remember when I sold cars in the mid '70s and those were just "old
> used cars" on the lot.

Yup, pre-Classic or is it Vintage now, at 55 years old? Then so am I!

> Something that's strange to me about Bugs are at one time they were all
> over the place, then suddenly, almost over night, they just disappeared.
Hmm, I hadn't noticed, but yeah, even though they're brand new, I'm only seeing the newer, flattr type -- I don't like them; I prefer the traditional car, as  Hitler designed it for the people (das wagen for das volks)

The old bugs attracted much creativity in their owners. . .

--- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-6
 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)

.