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Friday, 13 November 2009

WARNING - PAINFUL SMOKING STORY!

 
My brother took this photo around 1973ish - Embassy Tipped and Younger's beer being very common around that era.
The picture was actually taken at home so I can only assume the ashtray was nicked from a pub!
I'd only be 14/15 years old back then, so I hadn't started to indulge yet. However, some of the tuff-nuts at school the same age as me were already hooked. Embassy Tipped & Embassy Regal were their favoured fags. They used to keep their fag packets in the chest pocket of their Ben Sherman shirts or their gang jerseys, in class without the teachie knowing!
One day, when we were all making our way back home from Craigie High, a few of the Toddy guys were mucking about in Ruthven Road. One was absolutely GASPING for a fag and kept nagging his mate who only had twa left in his packet, so kept refusing the guys gasping pleas. In desperation the guy who was pleading ended up saying - "I'll let ye punch iz in the puss fir ain!".
"A'right then" was the reply.
So the one who was about to be punched had his hands held behind his back by a 3rd guy to prevent him guarding himself - then WALLOP!!! - he got a crack in the jaw from the one who had the fags!! He never even flinched. He was given his ciggie and off they all went up the road together, as if nothing had happened.
So let THAT be a real health warning!!!

16 comments:

  1. I can only assume the ashtray was nicked from a pub!

    LOL, like so many hooses in these days..we had numerous tin ashtrays like that..I also used to get the ald man to whip beer mats fae the clubby so I could put them on my room wall..talk about conditioning eh..

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  2. And what house would be complete without the obligatory bar towel, most usually advertising Tennents Export? ;)

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  3. Shairly you canne forget the bog standard Tenents ice bucket..that sat on any faithers bar in the luvin room? oh and the pub mirrors that were ah the rage in teh seevinties.

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  4. My dad had an ashtray that you pressed on the top and your ciggie end would disappear into the interior!

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  5. Then the brewers started making beermat collections , eg - the Scotland in Argentina world cup squad, just begging yi ti nick them ;-)

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  6. :) here Craig, was your dad's ashtray the ane that sat on the glass coffee table or the free standin' ane on the lang brass pole ???? murder at new year when they got too ful, the middle bit widnae push dood due to ecxessive amount oh doupies!!! :-)=~

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  7. sorry , i meant "doon" there, iv'e got an affy cald , and these toods anrnae workin' ;)

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  8. Meh cousin wis a punk in the 70's and he covered his jeans in bar towels, smart as feck, mind o they ashtrys your on aboot, free standing ains, this is a great threed..so many memories of 70's pub tat..We had a big Belhaven pub mirror in oor living room.

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  9. Am I right in thinking that fag packets back then had coupons inside? I seem to remember there were coupon books with gifts, in return for coupons.

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  10. Ah yes Retro you are right. In the early days it was saving up coupons for a toaster, etc. And then I remember later on you could save up coupons for a holiday! Obviously the thought of people smoking like f**k to get a holiday is a lovely thought....

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  11. Or you could wrap them up in elastic bands and tak them to certain corner shops whar you got hard cash for them, no very much like, but enough to go to the carnival, the Regal anes had 2's or 5's depending on the size oh packet, but if you bought "fev Park Drev" the coupon was only a 1, by the way, 5 Park Drive and a book of matches cost 5 and a half pence. when we got them at playtime ;)

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  12. In those days, you could also go to a newsagent and buy a single fag if you wanted. There would always be an open packet in the shop for such an emergency! On the down side, you wouldn't be able to get any coupons with them, so that precious gift from the Embassy catalogue would just have to wait!

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  13. I remember young ains going into the newsagent and asking for a "singul". No asking if you were 16 or anything.....

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  14. And I remember the ice cream van coming round and going out (aged 10) and getting 20 embassy tipped for my dad and 20 kensitas for my mum. And a squasher, a slider and a 99 for me.

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  15. we used to go up to Aberdeen to the coupon shop, Embassy or could have been Bristol and get electrical goods and cash for the coupons, sad or what? but it was a dayaway ;)

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  16. The ice-cream van in Menzieshill in the 70s would accept embassy coupons in payment for ice-cream or sweets!

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