T206 Wagner in Canada

[Balticfox]

Angie's King of Cards store would have been in one of the two small buildings visible beside Sam's Hotel & Tavern in this picture:



And here is the Bel-Air Restaurant across the street where I used to get perogies:

[samosa4u]

Very nice, Mr. Fox !!

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Man, I would have loved the opportunity to check out that restaurant. Gotta love the vintage Player's sign, even if the cigarettes are terrible. Some of the best pirogis I've had were in the diveiest bar in the Ham.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Gotta love the vintage Player's sign, even if the cigarettes are terrible.

Player's, Export "A", Sportsman, they were all real man's cigarettes before the explosion in 'light" and "mild" brands in the 1970's. There was a time when men wanted full tobacco taste from both their cigarettes and cigars:





And their chewing tobacco of course:

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

We (Canada) may be the winners in the beer competition, but America "wins" with their cigarettes. If one enjoys such an awful habit, which I admittedly do, I want something with flavor. Up here, our tobacco tastes like smoking a phone book. Nothing like a Lucky Strike, Pall Mall or Camel...all unfiltered. The older I get, the more wrong I know the love of this habit is. It's my last remaining vice, thankfully tamped down to just a handful a day.

[bmattioli]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

We (Canada) may be the winners in the beer competition, but America "wins" with their cigarettes. If one enjoys such an awful habit, which I admittedly do, I want something with flavor. Up here, our tobacco tastes like smoking a phone book. Nothing like a Lucky Strike, Pall Mall or Camel...all unfiltered. The older I get, the more wrong I know the love of this habit is. It's my last remaining vice, thankfully tamped down to just a handful a day.

Nothing beats a Marlboro Red. I quit smoking 10 Oct 11 after 30 years. It was a good move but having a smoke on a hot muggy summer night with a cold beer was wonderful..

[JollyElm]

It's funny how pervasive smoking was only a few years ago, where you'd walk into a 7-11 (e.g.) and into a haze of smoke as people were casually puffing away...and it was just 'normal.'
Now, if you're suddenly confronted by a smoky haze, it's a shock to the system.

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

Gotta love the vintage Player's sign....

I remember that just about every variety store sported its name on a sign with Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, 7-Up, Canada Dry, Wishing Well, Silverwood's, Player's, Neilson Sweet Marie, etc. background until the early 1980's. The signs must have come at no cost from the advertiser. They've now almost completely disappeared.

Even sadder is how neon signs have disappeared. Some of them were true works of art. Here's a pic of downtown London, Ontario circa 1965: