Those used to be setting outside every gas station and grocery store everywhere. Sometimes there would be a half dozen lined up in some high traffic places. I even remember most grocery stores had ash trays placed strategically around the store so you could smoke while shopping.

I was going to say I remember seeing a working machine not that long ago. Can't remember where it was, but it was just one of those "wow, remember when these used to be everywhere?" moments.

It may have been in PA where they still have bar areas that allow smoking, as long as they're a separate area from the main dining room.

Why did we ever stop using such an appealing aesthetic in everything we made? Cars, vending machines, refrigerators... hell, even ironing boards had beautiful designs.

What happened?

A consequence of outsourcing our manufacturing jobs, most likely.

Brings back a memory when I was a kid. There was a cig machine at the trailer court near our house where I bought my first and last pack of cigs. Lucky Strikes 10¢ a pack. Got sicker than shit.

Remember getting one of the last packs of old style marlboro out of these, after they made them less likely to cause spontaneous combustion. Taste quite different

These are how we got cigs as children. By then they were .85 per pack.

We still have one at local VFW, some members wanted to get rid of it but it stays. Edit: we also have a payphone on the wall