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As far as the OP of this thread, I don't know about "back in the day" as I was born in 1995, but I can speak to my experience getting alcohol while I was underage. It wasn't too difficult once I got to high school, as it was easy to find a hook up in order to get alcohol/weed or whatever else you wanted. And once I got my license it became even easier as I could drive the person buying it to the store, which opened up more potential buyers. Normally it was older friends of ours, but sometimes it was friends parents/stepparents, aunt/uncles of friends, etc. Never asked a stranger to buy alcohol for me, didn't figure anyone would bite and was pretty shy in general back then.
I will say that alcohol was more difficult to get than say weed or pills because alcohol is LEGAL, so you're not buying it from a dealer who doesn't care how old you are, you're buying it from a store that DOES care because they don't want to get fined/lose their license to sell alcohol. People were more hesitant to buy us alcohol because they were more worried about getting busted for contributing than anything. Never seen a dealer ask for ID, either.
For those of you who would have been say young teens in the 50s/60s/70s was it really easy for a young person to buy alcohol? With store keepers not caring? I also heard back then if a cop pulled you over you could be super drunk and there would be a good chance he'd drive you home, or let you walk home, is that true?
I came of age in the seventies. The drinking age of both my home state, (NY) and where I attended college (MA) was eighteen, which makes sense to me. It did to my parents as well.
Really, it wasn't a matter of it being "easy to obtain" it was a matter of people - 18 year olds, who can vote, serve in the armed forces, sign a contract, attend a college or university, purchase a home, drive a moter vehicle, and smoke cigarettes being able to drink normally, when they wished.
Funny thing. In the 1970s and early 1980s, I do not recall one famous incident - or incident within my circle of friends - of alcohol poisoning. No one needed to retreat to the woods to "consume mass quantities" of beer and liquor. No one needed to drive around drinking with alcohol in the car consuming quickly and surreptitiously. No that is a real danger.
We were able to drink at our HS graduations - with our parents and our friends. We also ATE and CONVERSED. Because of the eating and drinking, and lot's of talking - we learned that "getting drunk as fast as possible" was not the point of social drinking.
In my small town in NYS, we stopped at every parent's graduation party. Met the parents. Pictures were taken. And then we moved on to the next party. It was really fun - and I don't recall a single person "getting wasted", as we called in then.
At college there were bars on campus. They sold beer and wine. No one was asked for ID. You could be 17 and if you were a college student with a valid college ID you were fine.
Because drinks at the college bar (beer and wine) were - I think - around $1.50 per glass - people were limited in how much they could drink. It was a fun atmosphere. Juke box, or live bands, pool, video games.
And best - we didn't need to drive - we WALKED there because it was on campus.
This was true of most private colleges in the 70s and early 80s.
Or, of course, Utah. At least at Salt Lake Airport, yeah, they card everybody who orders a drink.
Same here in New York.
Friend of mine was flattered when the young kid at Rite Aide asked to see her ID (she's in her late 40's). Then I pointed to the sign near counter that stated the place cards anyone buying booze or tobacco.
Remember when student-faculty dating was more than acceptable? It wasn't only older man and younger woman either.
Are you talking about universities? From my understanding there are no laws against university students and professors dating. It's simply that many universities on their own decided to completely ban undergrads from dating professors.
Who needed to buy it? I don't know a set of parents that didn't have a fully stocked bar. We drank out of the cabinets...didn't do it much though...get sick as a dog once is all it takes...
Easy. I remember going to a neighborhood bar at 16 and ordering a beer. I was counting on the guy to kick my butt out. Instead, he served me along with my buddy. We drank fast and got the heck out before someone who knew us saw us.
Regularly bought a case of quarts for the drive-in theater.
Pretty much drank my way through a couple years of college. Never liked any booze beverages. Pretty much quit when I turned 21. Now mid 70s, have two or three social drinks a year. Make wine, about 30 bottles at a time. I don't drink it but many of our neighbors have vinyards, lots of opportunities to take my own label to get togethers. Most of them contract out their grapes.
I turned 18 in 1976. The drinking age was 18 then. When I was 15, I could stand in front of any liquor store and get an 18 year old to buy alcohol for me. At age 16 & 17, I had no problem getting served in bars. I remember my 18th birthday at the bar. It was kind of funny when the bartender asked me how old I was. Err... 18. My dad used to do Rotary Club at the restaurant part of that bar every Tuesday night. I'd have a drink at the bar with him before or after his dinner meeting occasionally. I grew up in a home where wine was on the table at dinner and alcohol was no big deal if I wasn't driving. Better to learn my limits young so I didn't go off to college and binge drink. I don't understand the whole 2017 attitude about alcohol.
Back in the 70's yes. Eighteen was the legal age for beer. There were many seniors in high school that turned 18 their senior year so there was always a friend to buy beer for everyone. We used to order fake ID's through the mail and they actually worked. Or we would cut a number out of our driver's license and glue it on our birth year to make it appear we were older. There was a little store in our neighborhood privately owned and they would sell anyone beer. And again there were those neighbors who kept beer and wine in the fridge in the garage. We would camp out in the yard at night and sneak beer from the fridges. You never heard of DUI's. Honestly, when I think of how stupid we were driving and drinking and the people I got in a car with, it is a wonder we survived.
I was not raised in a drinking home. I understood that a lot of kids got alcohol from their parents' stash.
I do know that kids drank though. It was pretty common. And they smoked, some of them, from a very early age.
My parents didn't drink, but all 7 of us kids did to varying degrees.
Legal age for me was 18, which I turned in 1976. Before that, I knew of one liquor store where I could buy beer at 17, and my sister and her friends took me to a couple of bars when I was 16 and 17. They were 6 years older, and I was taller than all of them, so I guess no one noticed.
Usually my older brother bought beer for my friends and I. We would drive around in his Camaro drinking beer, and then he'd drop us off and go hang with his friends.
And yes, I was pulled over more than once and let go, when I should NOT have been driving.
Last edited by Mightyqueen801; 07-27-2017 at 07:51 PM..
hard booze, no , beer and high alcohol wine coolers yes. cisco anyone?
get into the nightclubs at 15 yrs old, no problem, especially if you bring some girls with you.
paper bagging a quart of beer was no real biggie.
based on the 70's and 80's in nyc.
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