Back in the day…
And we bitched when the price went up… The day before beer had been .35 cents!
Beer machines in the barracks… The ‘brand selection’ depended on which base…
On Midway Is. beer was .25 and cokes were .35…
Needless to say the beer machines got emptied first!!!
Kunsan the monthly ration for sodas was 2 cases, but it was 6 cases for beer.
Oh my….never had one of those at Stewart or Benning or Knox.
We did, however, have one in the SigEp house in college.
Had beer machines at Shephard AFB, but they were gone before I spent a few months there in early 1986. The USAF and the vending machine company did not take kindly to my predecessors shoving it out a 3rd floor window one night. Idiots ruined it for everyone else. Sigh
Army, circa 1963, no beer, and no vending machines, in the barracks, but a bottle discretely tucked away in your wall locker was tolerated.
And to think I sold my ’68 Dodge Super Bee because ethyl went up to $.75/gallon … never saw any beer vending machines, but they was only 50 cents/glass at the snack bar at the head of the pier in Elefsis.
No beer machines in the Ft. Hood barracks when I was there, but Pearl was 99¢ for a six-pack…
It’s been a long time since I saw a beer machine. They had them in Korea.
I remember seeing beer machines in a couple of E clubs in the early 80s. I bet they’re all gone now.
Must be for senior NCOs with that much “lite” beer.
What?
There used to be a beer machine outside a meeting room in a park near downtown. I remember going to the State rifle and pistol club there. (I think it was Kiwanis or Lions, or something…)
Anyway (this is back in the 70’s) it was under $1.00, for a can of Bud or Schlitz!
Knowing this town, it’s probably long gone…
🙁
gfa
Reminds me of pallets of warm beer in SEA. If lucky you got one from a pallet that had a tarp over it, though there was some question if shade was better than trapping the heat.
Hey, wait! Weren’t you NAVY? I didn’t think this sorta thing… beer machines in quarters… was allowed! I know for a fact I had to bring my own beer when I stayed at the TLQ at Brunswick NAS a few years back and both SN1 and I gave SN2 (the black shee… err… NAVY member o’ the fambly) HELL about that. Every USAF TLQ I’ve stayed in had beer behind the desk… it’s always “give me my key and three bottles o’ Michelob, please.”
Verified because I used them. Enlisted Barracks, Naval Guided Missile School, Fleet Combat Training Center, Dam Neck, Virginia Beach Virginia, April 1977-May 1978. 50 cents a can. I was drinking the OLD Schlitz at the time.
But when I returned to there in 1981, they had been yanked.
Bastards.
However, my Father-in-Law (RIP) served with the 10th. Mountain Division in Italy during WW2. But since he got to the War late, he had to stay behind for Occupation Duty, and was stationed at a Supply Base in Naples. The Brass had learned things the Hard Way, so it was “Policy” that anyone who left the Base on a Pass had the option of taking a CARTON of Cigarettes and/or a CASE of Canned Beer, if they wanted to do so. Seems that the Beer and Smokes were being pilfered anyway and used for “Trade Goods”, so rather than bust a lot of G.I.s, they just gave them the “Trade Goods.”
My Father-in Law said he had a GREAT TIME over there.
And that was probably the last time “Big Army” used Common Sense.
I was stationed at NAF Naples from ’61-’63 and we could buy two cartons of cigs a month for $1.50 each. Then for we nonsmokers there was the problem of getting rid of them. Oh well, there was this guy who would buy them from you who owned the Hinekens bar up on NSA hill. He was paying $5 a carton! Then he would open the packs and send his henchmen out on the streets to peddle the Luckies (the preferred brand) at $1 apiece to the locals! Who was this entrapenaur(sp) you might ask? None other than one Lucky Luciano a recently deported mobster from the States. If you got caught doing this it was hard time in a place of Uncle Sam’s choosing because it was called “Black Marketeering”.
Juvat- Yes, there were some ‘strange’ limits overseas… 🙂
SPE- They went out in the late 70s early 80s… dammit…
WN- Ouch… That sucks!
WSF- Well you were Army… 🙂
Rev- I’d forgotten about the pier head shops…LOL
Tim- That’s ALMOST as bad as Fallstaff…
LL- If I remember right, this one was in Keflavik, Iceland 🙂
Alan- Yep, there too; and all LONG gone!
Gerry- Air Force… sigh
gfa- OH yeah, LONG gone…
Bob- Yep, and our favorite was Pabst, it was the thickest can and best for acft repairs… LOL
Buck- They were gone in the early 80s…
Les- Thanks for backing me up! And I heard similar stories from folks I knew that were there, and in the Pacific
Ed- LOL, why am I NOT surprised you were in the middle of that… 🙂
Had a few out of those machines.
The roach coach’s on Guam in the early 70’s used to have beer too.
Made lunch.
I wish I could recreate those coach’s half a grilled chicken on a bed of rice. That was good.
Every time I try to grill the chicken I get close, but no cigar.
Jon- It’s the ‘seasoning’… and no, I don’t know what it was either… BUT IT WAS GOOD!
My brother said he had beer machines at Fort Carson in his barracks approx 1977.And in Korea in 1978-79
Rick- Yep, that was before the price went up… sigh