Addictions, Great and Small

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Let me present to you the vending machine facilities of my tiny Bavarian village:

Yes - a cigarette and a gumball machine :)

A cigarette dispenser and a gumball machine

I was so surprised to still find them there, side by side, after almost four decades(!). I’m especially tickled by the gumball machine – it’s seemingly the very same one I cranked my plastic rings and other choking hazards out of in the 70’s. Oh, happy childhood memories… Luckily, I never graduated to its sinister big brother 😉

 

46 thoughts on “Addictions, Great and Small”

      7. ladyofthecakes Post author

        But… that would be all vending machines. I was specifically referring to those that dispense chewing gum and toys packaged in plastic spheres. Gumball machines!

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  7. joannesisco

    I was shocked – let me repeat – SHOCKED, to find a cigarette vending machine at a swimming pool when we were in Hilpoltstein. There is just something very, very wrong about that.
    When, or when, will cigarettes finally be banned? – if for no other reason than they smell really badly!!

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  8. bevchen

    Does anyone ever still use those gumball machines? There are some in Karlsruhe that look ancient… I’d be scared to eat anything that came out of there!

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    1. ladyofthecakes Post author

      I was wondering the same thing… who refills them..?? How can that be a profitable business? When we were kids, we were more interested in the ‘toys’ than the chewables.

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      1. Jenna

        I always get warm fuzzies when I go home and see things that haven’t changed since I was little. Of course, I come back wiser each time (no, Jenna, you CANNOT eat that 2 lb burger by yourself), but there’s something about being in such a familiar place that makes me happy.

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      2. ladyofthecakes Post author

        Same here, to some degree… and radical changes provoke the opposite response. For example, the house in which I grew up has been torn down and a community centre was built its place. I feel a bit weird every time I look at the spot!

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  11. Kim in Fiji

    Cigarette vending machines were banned in the US when they decided to make a ban on selling cigarettes to minors. (I was no longer a minor – but I had availed myself of the vending machines on occasion at age 14 up – though I could by them just as easily from the gas station “They’re for my dad.” – yeah, right!) I agree – NASTY HABIT! Hard to kick, too. Anyway – my question – doesn’t Germany have a ban on sale of tobacco to minors?

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    1. ladyofthecakes Post author

      I must admit, that thought had crossed my mind… but I don’t think there’s much call for that in such a tiny village. Especially as they want the birth rate to go up 😉

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