Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Start Drinking

Most postcards that feature the inebriated also include a streetlight. There's often a moon too, but not in this case.

Then there's the guy who just soaks it up in the barrel. By the way, don't try this at home or anywhere else. There are reports of people dying from the fumes after going in to clean out empty brandy vats.


And then there's the guy in Portland, Oregon - did he die or just lose interest in drinking? He saved a whole lot of drink chips from the 60s and 70s from all kinds of taverns in Portland, most of which are not around anymore.  I bought these for 25 cents at a garage sale in a plastic Cool Whip tub with "Dick's Chips" written on the top in felt pen. It's part of Portland's history.

Here are some of the names of the old Portland taverns, in case you can't read them off the scan:
The Boondox Tavern, Y-Not Tavern, Mary Jo's, Little Apple Tavern, Ace Tavern, Spur Tavern, B&I Tavern, Spanish Inn, Hal & Thelma's, Hals' Tavern (uh-oh, what happened to Thelma?),  Pal's Shanty (still there!), The Table, Happy Days Tavern, Pakana, Picadilly Inn, Hour-Glass Tavern, Game Cock Tavern,  Hole in the Wall, Punjab Tavern, Hook & Ladder, Seahorse Tavern, Big Wheel, Snoopy's Tavern, Etc. Tavern, Red Star Tavern, Jakes' Paris Mugs, Tiny's Cafe, Side Show, and the Sandy Jug.

The Sandy Jug is still there, but it is now called the Pirate's Cove.  People still refer to it as the Sandy Jug, because it's on Sandy Blvd, it's shaped like a jug, and it's been there since the 1920s.  Here's what it looks like.
 Photo courtesy of Por Stanton.

8 comments:

  1. I love them all, but especially Dick's Chips. Awesomeness.

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  2. The drinking thing -- an interesting subject for sure. I have several French postcards featuring kids drinking and I hesitate to share them lest I create undue cultural malignment! The French hate a drunk and poke fun at them just like we do. I'm not sure what the drinking norm was at the turn of the century in regard to kids --- do you happen to know?

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  3. Trishia,
    I'm not sure, but I do know that I was served champagne punch at a fourth-grade birthday party in Germany. Without a strict drinking age like here in the U.S., it takes away the incentive to binge drink when you reach 21. It's just no big thing.

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  4. C.H. neglected to mention that Pirate's Cove is a strip joint, so sometimes the Sandy Jug is referred to in the plural...

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  5. What a great post. And what a great find with "Dick's Chips." And I'll be sure to stay away from those brandy vats!

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  6. I never heard of drink chips before.I stick to beer, both for drinking and collecting.

    I would love to have a postcard of the Sandy Jug.

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  7. Wow, those chips are awesome! I didn't even know those things existed. Neat post.

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