TheaterFire

Did your local bowling alley have smokes in the vending machines?

Posted by Raynet11@reddit | Xennials | View on Reddit | 165 comments

Did your local bowling alley have smokes in the vending machines?
Was this thing in your town (Circa early 90’s) too? We also rarely were carded at gas stations for smokes, alcohol on the other hand was a nope.. we were buying tobacco at 15 no problems.

Reply to Post

165 Comments

InsideReflection8238@reddit

When I was 13, I would go to the post office, use the change machine, then go to the pizza place nearby and grab a pack of Marb Reds for $2.50.
View on Reddit #34538553

ThatDarnSmell@reddit

Recall seeing one by the restrooms in a restaurant still being there in the 90s, but I can't recall what year it was removed.
View on Reddit #34467357

iamrosieriley@reddit

Bowling alleys are the only place I will immediately crave a cigarette. And I haven’t smoked in years
View on Reddit #34376610

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

Been over 20 years for me ... but anytime I have a long drive, bowling alley, bar, or have cup of coffee. I'm good to have one every couple years for nostalgia sake.
View on Reddit #34378801

iamrosieriley@reddit

Road trips! Yes— that is absolutely another one. It makes me happy you can indulge in a nostalgia smoke every now and then!
View on Reddit #34446396

haddahhurddah@reddit

No, but every Pizza Hut did.
View on Reddit #34417858

NW_Forester@reddit

Yes, but not like that style vending machine. https://preview.redd.it/l50e8num7ald1.jpeg?width=375&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=570cb72cfb345139ef7dc0f3fd45034de2ab1e5c That's what they looked like.
View on Reddit #34287549

WaitUntilTheHighway@reddit

100%. I loved bowling as a kid even though you were looking at the pins through a thin haze of cig smoke.
View on Reddit #34356274

notsureifxml@reddit

Yeah this is what I remember! Loved yanking on the handles!
View on Reddit #34287718

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

Hah I used to go to a pizza shop that had one of these because they didn't care if you weren't old enough to use the machine.
View on Reddit #34294730

Bradddtheimpaler@reddit

Are you from southeast Michigan by any chance? My pizza shop cigarette machine hookup was called Pia’s!
View on Reddit #34299025

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

Pennsylvania. But sub and pizza shops are the de facto official state traditional restaurants. It's the closest thing to regional cuisine that we have, so they've always been gathering places.
View on Reddit #34299495

Calm-Preparation7460@reddit

Pennsylvania, huh? Same! SWPA…You?
View on Reddit #34320778

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

NW.
View on Reddit #34342906

84OrcButtholes@reddit

Our bowling alley would ask if they saw you getting them but wouldn't give a shit if you just said they're for your dad.
View on Reddit #34300701

ahoypolloi_@reddit

Sometimes you’d yank and a book of matches would fall out
View on Reddit #34293317

Interesting-Goose82@reddit

Those long ass foose ball handels?! You would think, holy crap i pulled it out a foot, how much more? Then it would clunk and come out another foot!!!!
View on Reddit #34288316

ChromeDestiny@reddit

The place my sister went for her swim meets had this style of cigarette vending machine next to the soda machine. The soda machine struck me as odd as a kid, it was all Fanta.
View on Reddit #34340261

burrito_magic@reddit

Our Waffle House had one well up into 2006
View on Reddit #34337361

Reagannite1981@reddit

This is exactly what they looked like at Pizza Hut
View on Reddit #34336260

OperatorP365@reddit

Came here for this, the old PULL style!
View on Reddit #34335004

BasketballButt@reddit

Exactly. That’s the vending machine we got our cigarettes from in junior high.
View on Reddit #34327369

Pissouthaass@reddit

Pulled the knob. Man that was a good one
View on Reddit #34322033

MetsFan3117@reddit

Yesssss.
View on Reddit #34313251

KingdomOfFawg@reddit

There was one of those at the entrance to the bar in the back of the restaurant my grandpa and uncle liked.
View on Reddit #34306875

brilliantpants@reddit

Yup, that’s the one! Every diner, bowling alley, and arcade.
View on Reddit #34302513

Totallynotatworknow@reddit

I used to get $5 every week when my parents bowled. I had to grab my old man a soft pack of Basic lights - and let's be real, it was fun as shit to yank the handle on these machines as a kid - and the rest was mine to do with as I pleased. Which of course meant arcade games. So much TMNT, Off Road, and pinball... And pool. Good times.
View on Reddit #34289151

reznxrx@reddit

Gauntlet, NBA jam...
View on Reddit #34301470

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

They were always the same price at least in the ones I saw. Why buy generic?
View on Reddit #34294777

Totallynotatworknow@reddit

Basic was/is a Philip Morris brand. Not generic but not “high end” either.
View on Reddit #34296905

Bradddtheimpaler@reddit

I also loved how the cigarette machine would sell me cigarettes when I was 12 too. That was very convenient about them.
View on Reddit #34298954

aftershave_cabinet@reddit

There's a weird sub shop about 45 minutes from me that still has one of these and it's functional!
View on Reddit #34293908

Hellament@reddit

So, do you just stick in an entire roll of quarters now, or do you have to count them out?
View on Reddit #34298121

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

I know of exactly one of these still around in a bar.
View on Reddit #34294869

_Lil_Piggy_@reddit

I saw one of these in a strip club in Portland back in 2016.
View on Reddit #34297661

bulanaboo@reddit

We had socks and nuskin, thumb insert grips
View on Reddit #34297159

RoxyLA95@reddit

I looked forward to paying around with the cigarette machine. It was even better when an adult gave you money to buy them cigarettes.
View on Reddit #34296686

cerialthriller@reddit

This the kind the bowling alleys and bars near me had
View on Reddit #34296118

zombie_overlord@reddit

This is how I got cigarettes when I was 12
View on Reddit #34295589

So-Called_Lunatic@reddit

When I was about 12 my friend and I were at a bowling alley that still had one of these. He pulled one and a pack came out. By time he was 13 he was a regular smoker. They made them illegal shortly afterwards.
View on Reddit #34294975

Henchforhire@reddit

Only motel that had one like that without the dollar bill thing on the side. Got to use the change to get a soda when I got my mother a pack of Marlboro reds.
View on Reddit #34294941

timothypjr@reddit

Right! We didn’t have those fancy, new-fangled twisty things with motors. We had to pull the knob and pull the smokes out ourselves.
View on Reddit #34292229

AfternoonPast3324@reddit

When I was overseas from ’99-‘01 I was blown away to see these things everywhere. They even had some set up outside of businesses.
View on Reddit #34289670

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

Those were in the bars and restaurants but yeah they were everywhere like gambling machines are today in this state.
View on Reddit #34288402

redditsuxbutter@reddit

I bought my cigs at the vending machine at the local grocery store. $3.15 and a friend had to keep lookout not for the workers but for neighbors.
View on Reddit #34353900

patriotAg@reddit

Honestly, we are too freaking regulated today. They should still have these.
View on Reddit #34344372

CMDR_MaurySnails@reddit

Pool hall in my case, but yeah the handles not this contraption.
View on Reddit #34342844

Downunder818@reddit

Wouldn't be a legit bowling alley, if it didn't....
View on Reddit #34342338

ImprovementCapable15@reddit

Our local pizza hut had them
View on Reddit #34339457

NYK-94@reddit

We had an old cigarette machine.
View on Reddit #34335674

PlaneLocksmith6714@reddit

I see that Red Pall Mall filterless soft pack! Those are the cigarettes my dad smoked for decades.
View on Reddit #34334375

Past-Adhesiveness150@reddit

Everywhere had renting machines. That's where I got mine. When my hand written notes from my mother didn't work anymore
View on Reddit #34333774

Swimming-Food-9024@reddit

Absolutely, back by the bathrooms, in an alcove where no one could witness you purchase them and you always had an excuse of needing to go to the bathroom if nearly caught
View on Reddit #34330411

Dirtweed79@reddit

More like the teacher's lounge.
View on Reddit #34330154

poindxtrwv@reddit

The local pizza place in our mall (appropriate named "The Pizza Place") had one.
View on Reddit #34329388

BigHobbit@reddit

Still does. Couple bars around here still have em too.
View on Reddit #34327510

chocki305@reddit

No. The bar around the corner to the high school had a machine in their entrance area. So you didn't have to enter the bar to buy. It had a "must be 18" sign.. but that was only enforced when the police stopped by for a working lunch / dinner.
View on Reddit #34324119

ballthrownontheroof@reddit

My local Denny's had cigarette machines
View on Reddit #34322926

walkabout16@reddit

Local bowling alley? Seems like everywhere had those! Restaurants too.
View on Reddit #34321105

Assortedpez@reddit

Almost posted one of these the other day, miss seeing things around for some weird reason. Simpler times. They seemed to be at a lot of restaurants as well
View on Reddit #34320960

Facestealer_theA2CHS@reddit

Absolutely they were EVERYWHERE too
View on Reddit #34319646

Illustrious-Hair3487@reddit

There’s a bar in my area that still has one. Not just as a relic or decoration either. You can buy cigarettes out of it still.
View on Reddit #34317839

Gaming_Esquire@reddit

Not enough Camels and Newports! And... did we as a society and generation ever figure out why a soft pack would ever be preferable to a hard pack? Especially when falling, say, from a vending machine?
View on Reddit #34314702

cherrydarling79@reddit

Those were the days
View on Reddit #34314341

cbih@reddit

A cigarette machine, pay phones, and the greatest arcade game ever, Final Fight
View on Reddit #34296934

nam3_us3r@reddit

I remember the huge crowd of teenagers playing SF2 next to me while I wondering why the heck they weren't having a blast playing as I was playing Final Fight. I loved that game too
View on Reddit #34312701

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

This one had a Neo Geo and Jukebox to take whatever money was left over
View on Reddit #34299719

DLeck@reddit

I worked as a dishwasher at a hotel's restaurant when I was 17 (~2002) and they had one of the old school wood paneled ones between the kitchen and the bar near the lobby. When I first saw that thing I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't think they were even legal anymore. Unfortunately, I used it. A lot. Every time I did It was like a James Bond mission. I did not want anyone to see me.
View on Reddit #34312611

MeribandDHB@reddit

That glass would be broken so fast
View on Reddit #34310773

ReeceDawg@reddit

The local everyplace had em.
View on Reddit #34309270

redditreader_aitafan@reddit

I went to a billiards parlor when I was 16 that had a cigarette vending machine but it was the old style with the pull knobs, not this fancy thing.
View on Reddit #34308819

Beginning_Vehicle_16@reddit

My Waffle House did.
View on Reddit #34307702

xrobertcmx@reddit

My local Giant Grocery did.
View on Reddit #34307658

Heidi_ann76@reddit

Sure did but it wasn't fancy like this, it had the old pull knob. I smoked virginia slims at the time, when I got questioned I just told them they were for my mom as that really was her brand lol. Occasionally they'd get the packs mixed up & you would end up with something other than what you wanted which was annoying!
View on Reddit #34307594

Oomlotte99@reddit

I remember when you could still get them from the pull tab ones on bars. Also my mom used to get them from one of those pulling ones at a burger place by our house; when I was a kid I’d beg to pull the handle, lol.
View on Reddit #34307079

aamabkra@reddit

Mmmmm …. Smokey treats
View on Reddit #34304347

Sp4ceh0rse@reddit

I’d assume so, it sure smelled like it. Ironically it burned down a few years ago. RIP Bowl Texas
View on Reddit #34304175

Resident-Device-2814@reddit

The front entryway of the local Friendly’s (ice cream restaurant) had one.
View on Reddit #34303275

Federal-Cockroach674@reddit

Oh wow, giving yourself cancer was so much cheaper back then.
View on Reddit #34302998

AnnOminous27@reddit

I knew where all the ones in town were that I could use without anyone checking (or caring) my age
View on Reddit #34302842

Dave-justdave@reddit

What no Camel's?
View on Reddit #34302508

TheJokersWild53@reddit

We had them at the bowling alley and a couple of pizza places. The struggle was always getting $3.75 in quarters for the machine. Now that I’m thinking about it, none of us had the common sense to go to a bank and trade a ten dollar bill for a roll of quarters.
View on Reddit #34302381

CaptianBrasiliano@reddit

There was a bar just outside my neighborhood with one of those like, entry rooms you see in places with colder weather... like the little coat room looking place then you had to go through another set of doors to get into the actual bar. Anyway, they was a cigarette machine in there. As a kid I could run in there real quick and just hope no one came in and I had the quarters all ready to go 1,2,3,4,5....14 pull the knob for Marlboro Reds, grab them and jet.
View on Reddit #34302087

Throwaway_inSC_79@reddit

A pizza place we used to go to had one. Mayfair in Woodbridge NJ, or maybe it was Avenel but that’s a twp. Also a dark dimly lit pizza place. Baffles me that decor of the time consisted of dark wood tones and dim lights.
View on Reddit #34302005

Spear_Ritual@reddit

Hell yeah. Probably $1.25.
View on Reddit #34301983

Inside_Freedom7237@reddit

yep and when we went to our bowling group in hs we all bought them and smoked them and ate junk food. Ah the days, also the days smoking with my teachers in the smoking section out side.
View on Reddit #34301826

impeesa75@reddit

These were in the hospital my mom worked in
View on Reddit #34301545

reznxrx@reddit

So did restaurants.
View on Reddit #34301431

djsynrgy@reddit

We had cigarette vending machines at the grocery store, until the mid 90's. That's how I supported my habit for the first year or two.
View on Reddit #34301393

AccidentalGK@reddit

One of the alleys I went to had that type. Candlepin can be frustrating.
View on Reddit #34301184

carlitospig@reddit

Cigarettes were *everywhere* when we were kids.
View on Reddit #34300984

buffoonery4U@reddit

Every Village Inn, every Pizza Hut, and every shitty bar.
View on Reddit #34300664

ChimmyChongaBonga@reddit

Used to have the old pullstyle ones at the unstaffed snackshack between holes 9 and 10 on my local golf course. When I was a teenager I'd go play the 18 hole course and load my golf bag up with Newports. 
View on Reddit #34300615

planenut767@reddit

Last place I saw one of those was one of those old style pulley type machines about 2 years ago. It was in the Terminal at Reading Municipal Aiport in Reading PA of all places (ground areas of airports are typically no smoking for obvious reasons). It has since been removed. Meanwhile over in Porto Portugal I see these fancy digital cigarette machines that take credit cards now too.
View on Reddit #34290839

ChimmyChongaBonga@reddit

Last time I saw one was in a pizzeria right outside of Reading, but that was about 20 years ago. That was my goto for getting smokes before hitting the movie theater next door. 
View on Reddit #34300518

Shameless522@reddit

The style in your pic was at the gentlemen’s club
View on Reddit #34300277

neon_honey@reddit

In high school, we knew where to find these machines in dark corners of pool halls and restaurants for the days there was no one old enough around to buy us a pack. Always more expensive than the gas station, though
View on Reddit #34300119

Osprey_Talon@reddit

Local pizza place too. Conveniently placed in the entrance where no one could see who was using it.
View on Reddit #34290336

kg51113@reddit

>Conveniently placed in the entrance where no one could see who was using it. Yup! That's where they always were in my area!
View on Reddit #34299299

Unfair-Geologist-284@reddit

Yes! I could tell when my mom had been there because she absolutely reeked of cigarette smoke.
View on Reddit #34299085

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

So crazy part about these vending machines was that the had smokes, candy and chips… I do remember the price on the smokes was higher than the gas stations, but captive audience so made sense.. We would play pool and bowl, ahh to be young dumb and invincible…
View on Reddit #34299064

Kenneth_Lay@reddit

Yes
View on Reddit #34298825

madproof@reddit

Yes. There are still 4 of these machines left in my city and everything I’ve see one I get transported back 25 years
View on Reddit #34298421

mclms1@reddit

Was a gas jockey next door to a bowling alley , our cigarettes were cheaper than the machine in the alley . Use to make bank on league nights.
View on Reddit #34298280

CemeteryWind213@reddit

The only time I saw the corkscrew-style machine used for cigarettes was a bar, long after the conventional machines disappeared.
View on Reddit #34298227

usernameJ79@reddit

I grew up in North Carolina so everywhere had these until about 20-25 years ago whenever it was that the age to buy was raised to 18 federally.
View on Reddit #34292950

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

You could buy them under 18 in NC?
View on Reddit #34295477

usernameJ79@reddit

Lordy even worse I was about halfway through high school when they got rid of the student smoking area.
View on Reddit #34297370

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

When I was in grade school in the 80s/early 90s, high school students who were over 18 could smoke in the smoking lounge, but that was gone before I was old enough. But in my state, 15 years old would get served in bars. Illegally, but the liquor control board didn't enforce 21 and over at all in bars, so it was a matter of going to the next town over to prevent your parents from finding out.
View on Reddit #34297940

Low_Connection_9254@reddit

I would steal 3 quarters to get me some back in the day
View on Reddit #34297789

kankles3000@reddit

Of course they did around the corner by the far end door, perfect for 13 year old me to buy my smokes
View on Reddit #34297503

BoukenGreen@reddit

Yep.
View on Reddit #34297327

Inallahtent@reddit

Yep. Donut shop, Plazas, malls, supermarkets, pizza spots and the odd arcade because they didn't give a fuck. Shame, too, because by the time I started smoking, the regime done took all.the machine's. I think there was an old ass tiny in the teachers' lounge in my high school.
View on Reddit #34297204

PinkFloydDeadhead@reddit

My grocery store had these. The old school pull knob ones were at the bowling alleys in the DC metro area.
View on Reddit #34297050

wanderButNotLost2@reddit

My local bar still has one, you have to show your ID to the bartender and they will flip the switch to turn it on.
View on Reddit #34296848

Side_Honest@reddit

It did, but it had the pull knobs. We knew how to steal from it, buy one get unlimited for free. 20 years later I managed to kick the habit.
View on Reddit #34293790

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

Was it the don't release the pull lever the entire way and pull again machine? I knew a few like that.
View on Reddit #34295606

Side_Honest@reddit

Yes sir
View on Reddit #34296807

ephemeralspecifics@reddit

Mc Donald's had a vending machine
View on Reddit #34296495

thispartyrules@reddit

There was one at a hotel that was unguarded that we'd use in middle school, but in high school there was a local pizza place with a cigarette machine by the bathroom. You'd ask them for quarters for the arcade games and then go get cigarettes. In those days quarters had pictures of states on them
View on Reddit #34296354

onlysurfblacksand@reddit

Who else ran smokes for their parents while they bowled?
View on Reddit #34296320

carosotanomad@reddit

Until the coppers started sending in 16yo narcs to buy some...
View on Reddit #34295887

inspectortoadstool@reddit

No, but my barber shop did.
View on Reddit #34295730

MLDaffy@reddit

We had the regular ones in my area. They faded out in the early 2000s. I know of 1 that was around until about 2014. Whoever stocked that machine is a savage. That is no way to organize it.
View on Reddit #34288919

nevadapirate@reddit

I know at least one casino in my tiny town still has the 70s style machine next to the bar. Gotta love Nevada. 2.5 thou people and three casinos. lol.
View on Reddit #34295507

nevadapirate@reddit

Bowling alley and every restaurant too. Other than thats way too modern looking for the 70s and 80s. Ive never seen cigs in a snack machine before.
View on Reddit #34295351

thefro023@reddit

And some restaurants.
View on Reddit #34295287

Defiant-Fix2870@reddit

Yep and in diners too (I grew up in NJ)
View on Reddit #34295261

SewGangsta@reddit

Absolutely. When I was a teenager and still underage I would stop by the bowling alley next to my job to get smokes because nobody was ever watching the machine or seemed to give a shit that kids were using it.
View on Reddit #34290078

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

I think that's half the reason places had them. Since you weren't buying them directly from a cashier, they had some plausible deniability. It reminds me of a joke from the Simpsons where Moe says "If it weren't for the junior high school next door, no one would use the cigarette machine.
View on Reddit #34295253

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

If we were in the same town you would have been welcomed our crew.. raised by wolves… 😂
View on Reddit #34291287

probablyatargaryen@reddit

Mine did and once when my stepdad sent me over to get grab him some (I was maybe 9), a lady scolded him that I shouldn’t be doing that. He yelled back “She’s not smoking them yet!!” Lol different times
View on Reddit #34288990

RelevantFilm2110@reddit

We abused these things as teenagers because literally nowhere would stop you and there was no practically no legal enforcement.
View on Reddit #34295088

EastBayVaper@reddit

I remember smoking booths were still a thing until about 20 years ago. Even in California
View on Reddit #34295031

angrybirdseller@reddit

Brought cigarettes with vending machines back in 1997! It was bowling alley with billiards tables and small bar.
View on Reddit #34294672

kettlebell-j@reddit

Yes! As did my local Mexican and Chinese food spots.
View on Reddit #34294628

ZedGardner@reddit

When I was 15 Our local hotspot arcade had one of those, and the best part about it is that they sold single cigarettes for a quarter along with the packs and so if I was broke, I would bring couch change and just get a couple. Lol
View on Reddit #34294605

inko75@reddit

YES the other thing I remember was the vending machine that filled up a literal paper cup with soda fountain soda but like this 6oz cup 👀😂
View on Reddit #34294288

One_Breakfast6153@reddit

The grocery store did.
View on Reddit #34294085

spirit_of_a_goat@reddit

Don't know about the bowling alley but the bars all had one.
View on Reddit #34294055

Jokierre@reddit

Right next to the gumball machine in the grocery.
View on Reddit #34293818

psilosophist@reddit

Yes and I bought smokes out of it.
View on Reddit #34293709

Possible-Tangelo9344@reddit

The local Chinese restaurant did. But it was one of the squat machines that are being repurposed for small art pieces these days
View on Reddit #34293594

JohnBrine@reddit

Remember how the world smelled of cigarettes all the time everywhere.
View on Reddit #34289267

ahoypolloi_@reddit

It’s astounding how we just accepted it as such, and equally amazing at how much better it is when it doesn’t!
View on Reddit #34293416

Spider-1205@reddit

Omg me and my Dad were just talking about these 😅😅
View on Reddit #34293361

graveybrains@reddit

All the restaurants I went to as a kid had them
View on Reddit #34293339

Practical-Trash-4976@reddit

Hell yes it did. My dad was on many leagues when my brother and I were kids in the 80’s. My mom waitressed in the evenings so my dad would take us to the bowling alley with him and we would bring our homework. If we were good we could get a *mountain dew* at 8pm on a school night. One of the guys he bowled with had one of those voice box thingies but still smoked. Something about being in such a loud, smoky place makes me sleepy to this day
View on Reddit #34287735

ShillinTheVillain@reddit

> One of the guys he bowled with had one of those voice box thingies but still smoked. I get it. Quitting after you've already lost your larynx is like wiping before you poop
View on Reddit #34292540

Practical-Trash-4976@reddit

Lmao right?!
View on Reddit #34292992

_--_Osiris_--_@reddit

No, but my local Chinese restaurant did. If you had your quarters ready and were quick enough you could get in and out before the manager stopped you while on your way home from school lol.
View on Reddit #34292958

polygonalopportunist@reddit

![gif](giphy|SWoRKslHVtqEasqYCJ)
View on Reddit #34292647

sapperbloggs@reddit

When I was a teenager, the easy way for kids to buy smokes was to wait until the drive-through liquor store was a bit busy, then run in and buy a packet from the vending machine before the person working there saw you and told you to piss off.
View on Reddit #34291992

dontletyourcrownslip@reddit

I remember these best from Howard Johnson's.
View on Reddit #34291814

poofandmook@reddit

I can smell the American Legion entryway with the kind that had the levers.
View on Reddit #34291570

jessek@reddit

yep, also bowling alleys were the last places exempt from the indoor smoking ban, other than tobacco shops, where I lived.
View on Reddit #34291545

gwinnsolent@reddit

Restaurants and supermarkets, too.
View on Reddit #34291487

C0BRA_V1P3R@reddit

Yup. I remember several bowling alleys and restaurants having cigarette vending machines. I also remember gas stations having condom dispensers in the men’s room.
View on Reddit #34291213

lifeat24fps@reddit

‘78 here. The vending room of my dorm building had one.
View on Reddit #34290359

B0b_a_feet@reddit

When I was in the Marine Corps, I remember we had a cigarette machine in the barracks next to a beer machine.
View on Reddit #34290339

I_Have_No_Name_00@reddit

Oh yeah. When I went bowling with friends (usually Cosmic Bowling on Friday or Saturday nights), one adult would have a bottle of Budweiser and a pack of Marlboro Reds.
View on Reddit #34289936

HappySkullsplitter@reddit

There was so much second hand smoke in our bowling alley we didn't have to buy cigarettes, just breathe I couldn't handle more than 30 minutes at a time before I had to go outside for air, my eyes burned
View on Reddit #34289021

Raynet11@reddit (OP)

Ours had the built in ash trays built right into the bowling equipment 😂
View on Reddit #34289797

CactusHide@reddit

It sure did. There’s still a crappy dive bar around me that has a cigarette vending machine and it even takes cards. I think you have to do separate transactions if you also want to buy Cheetos or chewing gum, too.
View on Reddit #34289184

flipnitch@reddit

Yeah. The bowling alley and vfw had cig machines but they were the older style cig specific machines. There was a bar in my town that had the set up shown in the pic though. I think it lasted in that bar until around 97/98
View on Reddit #34287602