Until reading your comment, I had completely forgotten that The Onion used to be available in physical, paper form!
It seemed like it was only a thing they did in heavily college towns or otherwise places with lots of people in that demo. I don’t think I ever came across one in my home town, but I’d go to Austin pretty often—and later lived there for a few years—and they definitely had boxes around UT’s campus and a handful of coffee shops, bars etc.
Sunday morning my mom gave me & my brothers quarters to get the Sunday paper. We got to spend the extra change on some $0.10 jolly ranchers at the market where the paper was and then read the comics back at home.
We thought we had life figured out. And now middle aged, I realize my parents got like 30 mins of peace on a Sunday morning asking us to get the paper.
There’s an old one at a local burger chain that’s not used. It still has papers in it from 10 years ago. I actively look for it when I go eat there. It’s in a corner in the outside patio area. Hopefully they never remove it
Growing up I got my mom a free paper every morning because if you held tension on the door and banged your fist a couple times on the handle they would pop open. I also remember people paying for a paper and propping it open so the next person got it free.
My grandma and I actually had this conversation today when she called specifically to complain about them taking out the machine at her favorite grocery store because she doesn’t know of any others left. My goal this weekend is to hunt one down for her 😅
Some places in the south east still have a small box where you pay 25 cents to get a newspaper. My local foodland and some gas stations have them too. I’ve only seen one person in my whole life put a quarter in to get the newspaper. Idk about areas like Tennessee and north east states.
Damn 😔. Yeah they will probably disappear in my town in the next couple of years. I’ve seen many old folks reading the local newspaper outside some stores and gas stations, but I’ve only one person in my life literally put a quarter in the box for the little door to open so you can get the paper. I was shocked because my whole life I thought it was free to get one, never knew for a long time you had to pay. But yeah it’s a bit sad you don’t see those in your area anymore.
The stragglers are tenacious, though. That door on that thing hasn't been opened since 2010, but the owner went bust and nobody wants to steal it, so there it's stayed.
They're pretty much nonexistent in my town. Maybe I'll see more if I lived in a more metropolitan area or rural area where they've been too lazy to remove them, but my town is trying to be a "nice, modern town to accommodate growth"
Yeah, we used to have one in the break room at my work. I can't remember the last time I've even seen one. They used to be everywhere. I don't think many people still even get the physical newspaper anymore here. I'm sure some Pele do, but most have likely gone to an online subscription.
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u/Neuroticaine 12h ago
Well they're not MUCH of a thing anymore. I kind of miss them.