Eyeopening Trip to Bass Pro Shop

[Jar11591]

4 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

An attendant still pumps your gas in New Jersey (or at least they did when I was there 6-8 years ago 

As far as I know pumping your own gas is still illegal in NJ. Pain in the aft whenever I have to drive through it. 

[Bankbeater]

On 4/15/2023 at 2:32 PM, slonezp said:

Back to the eye opening trip to BPS, I went to Cabelas today to get my licenses and Cabelas no longer gives out the vinyl bifold to put the license in. 

I remember when you would get a license and it would come laminated.

[Tackleholic]

7 hours ago, Hammer 4 said:

I recall when gas was .18 cents a gal. and the attendent also checked your battery's level too.

There must be more of us "80 plus" Bass Fishermen on this site than I realized.  Maybe Glenn will set up a new reference section for us;  title it "Geezers' Nostalgia", or something like that?????

[Captain Phil]

8 hours ago, Bird said:

You have to be one of the oldest members, hats off.

Got my driver's license in 1976 and remember the Esso stations that did that.

 

I thought I was, but Tackleholics got me beat.  ?

[volzfan59]

I'm 63 and all the kids think I'm ancient. I guess me and @MN Fisher are still kinda young around here! We're pretty much the same age, I got him by a month or so.

 

My first "real" job was a gas station attendant in the mid 70's. I'm a car junkie so it was a great gig for me. I don't remember the price of gas, but cigarettes were 75 cents a pack.

[Captain Phil]

I'm 76 years young.  Not the oldest person here I'm sure.  I bought my first pack of cigarettes when I was 13 years old.  They cost me a quarter a pack.  It was a nasty habit, so I quit smoking when I was in my early 20s.  The fact that I quit when I did is probably why I am still around.   My first job was bagging groceries after school and on weekends at a local store.   I made $1.10 an hour plus tips.  With that job I bought a decent used car for $100.  I moved out of my parents home and got married when I was 19.  Our apartment rent was $80 a month.  Two years later, I bought a new 1967 Mustang for $3,000.  Back then, union construction workers made big money.  My best friend was an electrician making over $6.00 and hour.  It didn't take me long to figure out that I could make more money working for myself.  Most things are pretty much the same if you add a zero onto everything you buy today.

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

I bought my first pack of cigarettes when I was 13 years old.  They cost me a quarter a pack.  It was a nasty habit, so I quit smoking when I was in my early 20s.  The fact that I quit when I did is probably why I am still around. 

I bought my first pack when I was around 10 or 11 - still quarter a pack then (about 1970 or 71).

 

Still smoking today at 63 - I think some people are immune cause my last chest series was clear and my EKG was normal...for a 40 year old in good condition. ?‍♂️

[Captain Phil]

My great grand father died at 93 years old.  He smoked and chewed tobacco all his life.  I remember when he had spittoons all over his house.  In the middle of a conversation he would get up from his chair, open the front door and spit tobacco off the front porch.  My parents told me he had tuberculosis, but he had so much tobacco in his system it killed the germs.  I don't know if that was true, but I never saw him without tobacco in his mouth.   My mother was a heavy smoker.  She died of COPD at 72.  Before she passed I had to tell her she was going to die.  It was the hardest thing I ever did.  My father and mother in law who smoked all their lives,  both died of lung cancer, one at 66 and the other at 72.  Some people gamble and win, most don't

[Woody B]

Speaking of smoking,  my Grandfather possibly saved my life, or at least prolonged it.  When I was 12 myself and a cousin had spent the night at his house.  He caught us behind his tractor shed smoking one of his cigarettes.  He made us smoke a whole pack.  These were Pall Malls with no filters.  I'd probably still throw up if I tried to smoke a cigarette today.  I'm 59.  I remember my parents buying full service gas for 34 cents a gallon.  Gas was right at a dollar a gallon when I got my license.  

 

[volzfan59]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

I bought my first pack when I was around 10 or 11 - still quarter a pack then (about 1970 or 71).

 

Still smoking today at 63 - I think some people are immune cause my last chest series was clear and my EKG was normal...for a 40 year old in good condition. ?‍♂️

That's great Ken! I smoke the occasional cigar, mainly sitting on the patio with some good scotch. Even that's getting less and less 

 

My poor momma smoked all of her adult life She quit at around 66/67 years of age. All the hassle of quitting, passed away at 69 from bone cancer in her spine that went to her brain. 

[Captain Phil]

12 hours ago, Woody B said:

Speaking of smoking,  my Grandfather possibly saved my life, or at least prolonged it.  When I was 12 myself and a cousin had spent the night at his house.  He caught us behind his tractor shed smoking one of his cigarettes.  He made us smoke a whole pack.  These were Pall Malls with no filters.  I'd probably still throw up if I tried to smoke a cigarette today.  I'm 59.  I remember my parents buying full service gas for 34 cents a gallon.  Gas was right at a dollar a gallon when I got my license.  

 

 

I had a similar experience with chewing tobacco.  When I was a teenager my best friend and I went fishing in Lake Okeechobee.   He was a country boy from Belle Glade and always carried a pouch of Beechnut chewing tobacco.  One day while out fishing I asked him if I could try it.  He gave me a mouthful and I put it in my mouth.  It wasn't too bad until I swallowed it.  I threw up for an hour after that.  I'm a city boy, so I never got into chew or dip.  I also like girls.  I can't imagine any girl that would get near a man with a mouth full of tobacco.  It would be a deal killer.  ?

[Tackleholic]

On 4/17/2023 at 9:51 AM, volzfan59 said:

I'm 63 and all the kids think I'm ancient. I guess me and @MN Fisher are still kinda young around here! We're pretty much the same age, I got him by a month or so.

 

My first "real" job was a gas station attendant in the mid 70's. I'm a car junkie so it was a great gig for me. I don't remember the price of gas, but cigarettes were 75 cents a pack.

When I was 21 I could put a quarter in a vending machine for a pack of cigarettes;  buy a carton over the counter for $2.00.  Don't know what they cost today 'cus I quit!

[MN Fisher]

1 hour ago, Tackleholic said:

Don't know what they cost today 'cus I quit!

With local store discount - I'm paying $8.75 a pack.

[Woody B]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

With local store discount - I'm paying $8.75 a pack.

Much of that is taxes.  Decades ago a BUNCH of tobacco was grown in NC, and all over the south.  Cigarette taxes were low here.  A former customer of mine owned several convenience stores here in NC.  He made MILLIONS smuggling NC cigarettes to New York.   

[Tackleholic]

6 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

With local store discount - I'm paying $8.75 a pack.

Expensive, dangerous habit;  tough to quit.

[slonezp]

6 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

With local store discount - I'm paying $8.75 a pack.

I quit in '99. Was at 3 packs a day when I quit. Squares were $3.75 a pack when I quit. Today, with taxes, I believe they are over $13 a pack. When I started smoking, I could get a carton for maybe $9 out the door.

[N Florida Mike]

I chewed red man, Levi Garrett, and beech nut for about 8 years. There was a twist tobacco you could only get out in Baker county… called “ white mule”. It would give you a buzz.

I never got sick. I up and quit and only had one chew after that and that was it. I smoked a couple cigarettes once  and hated  them. Glad I did.

[airshot]

I graduated in 1968 and bought a new Javelin high performance car.  Running Sunoco blue 260 premium racing fuel at .349 a gallon !!!  Pumped my own fuel but they would check the oil and clean the windshield !

[Captain Phil]

I love the smell of Sunoco 260 in the morning.  Smells like victory!! ?

[airshot]

Back in rhe mid 80's I smoked a pipe and an ocassional cigar.  Quite cigarettes quite a few years earlier.   While sitting around the dinner table my teen kids ask why I smoked but didn't want them to do it??  Figured it was time to quit, so after dinner threw everything out!!!  Repainted inside the house to remove smoke smell.  Stopped cold turkey and never went back.  Bought myself an expensive toy that I always wanted, with the promise to myself that if I went back to smoking, the toy would be sold....great incentive to never go back!!  What I now save from not smoking pays for my boat and fishing trips!!