Would like to hear from old timers like myself - the 70s
- Thread starter rick3066
- Start date
Cans in So Cal were $10.00 for ever in the 50s , almost like the gold standard with lots of seeds and stems . $150.00 a pound was retail. If you were brave enough to go to East LA you could get a suitcase of 6 pounds for $75 a pound , suitcase included. Crazy things we did for weed . The times are sure changing . Yes , much better.
SWOGA
Well-Known Member
That would have been around 77 to 79, in SW Ohio. We would put "chunks" on a pin under a glass, and cough our lungs out.
I think that the marijuana is night plants 
I think that maybe can eating weed to detox
Shundahai Man
New Member
Yeah brother, memory lane for sure. I grew some real kickass weed from bag seed back in the early/mid 80's. All outdoor stuff of course.
One year I got ahold of some Thai sticks and found a 1/2 dozen seeds in the batch. I only got one female out of them, and grew it outside my house. Damn thing got HUGE...14' with a stalk as big as my wrist. I lived back up on a hillside, and this big plant was visible for a mile down the road...just an enormous green thumb lighting up a brown brushy hillside. I was sweating that one, hahaha! It took forever to ripen, didn't cut until early November but it yielded a good 4 pounds of some of the best weed I've ever smoked to this day. Damn those were good days.
One year I got ahold of some Thai sticks and found a 1/2 dozen seeds in the batch. I only got one female out of them, and grew it outside my house. Damn thing got HUGE...14' with a stalk as big as my wrist. I lived back up on a hillside, and this big plant was visible for a mile down the road...just an enormous green thumb lighting up a brown brushy hillside. I was sweating that one, hahaha! It took forever to ripen, didn't cut until early November but it yielded a good 4 pounds of some of the best weed I've ever smoked to this day. Damn those were good days.
Shundahai Man
New Member
I remember in the mid 70's when I first came to California I was living in Mendo County and for a brief period there was some real kick ass thai stick going around that allegedly came from bales that some lucky individuals found floating in the ocean or washed up on the beach somewhere...at least that was the legend going around. Gots ta wonder if it was yer weed that made its way north or another fortunate find from the same smuggler.
Those were some damn good days to be living in N. California
Those were some damn good days to be living in N. California
Shundahai Man
New Member
I'd like to get a bag of that seedy brown "Lumbo" and smoke some for nostalgia's sake. I bet it has been 20 years or more since I have seen any of that stuff.
I remember in the mid 70's when I first came to California I was living in Mendo County and for a brief period there was some real kick ass thai stick going around that allegedly came from bales that some lucky individuals found floating in the ocean or washed up on the beach somewhere...at least that was the legend going around. Gots ta wonder if it was yer weed that made its way north or another fortunate find from the same smuggler.
Those were some damn good days to be living in N. California
That story from Auggie has to be the top one of all time....really...!!! we've all had a dream of finding something like that and Augie lived it....most cool story. Auggie has a few of em, i'm sure. Maybe he'l chime in and tell us about his friend "Joe". It's another great one. One he's lucky to have lived thru! Cheers eh!
LoL. Yea, seaweed.
Mendo Joe was a Viet Nam vet. Forward Recon. A hell of nice guy - till he wasn't. And when he wasn't nice you wanted to be in a whole nuther zip code. He would do everything he could to help a guy out, even a stranger. But if you wanted to try to fuck him; you would be introduced to a whole new world of hurt. And to look at him you'd never be able to tell his potential for violence - he was a smallish guy and didn't weigh in at more than 150 lbs. He had a real "laid-back" mixed in with "today is a good day to die" attitude.
One day he and a few sec guys were saddling up to take care of a problem - he didn't tell me details and I didn't ask. But I did ask if he was sure he was going to be ok ... and he shrugged and said, "I got tired of killing a long time ago, and kind of wonder what it's like to BE killed. Maybe today will be my lucky day." He wasn't smiling. The weight of the things he saw and did in Nam weighed on his soul - I could tell.
He had four or five gorilla grows in the Mendocino Nat'l Forrest; each with at least 500 plants. Nearest town was Covallo, a village of about 500, about 50 miles inland from the coast. I started working for him as a pack mule. I (and others) would haul in supplies to the grows. Chicken shit, water filters, food, water pipe, tarps. I'd carry 120 lbs for miles over rough terrain many, many times. Later I had learned enough and earned enough respect to get my own grow. I did three of them over three years and made a lot of money. Once a week he'd hike in with supplies and mail - and sometimes he'd bring a couple of girls with him. What 20 something can spend three months alone in the woods with no female comfort?
The fourth grow got raided, and I spent a week evading the cops and their dogs. (Joe taught me a lot about concealment and evasion and setting up escape routes.) The cops were mostly fat and lazy, but the dogs; those damn dogs ... well I got away - but the cops picked me up two weeks later and questioned me but didn't have enough to bust me. Joe would never give me another grow site after that - instead he taught me how to clone and I raised babies for him for the grows. I tried to get a job with him doing security, but he'd just smile and shake his head and say "Yer not the type Auggie. You wouldn't be able to do that job - and if you did it would change you too much. You are just not the type. You are a farmer. Don't try to be what you ain't. You lookin to make a few bucks more? I'll give you a raise, but security is not your gig."
Joe died young - he was only 44. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him; he claimed it was all the chemicals he was exposed to in Nam. They finally told him he had cancer, and he went fast after that. He died at home with his wife and yellow lab and a few friends beside him. His is the only funeral I ever cried at. Only one. He was like a big brother to me. I look forward to meeting up with him again. I just KNOW he's got a few grows going on right now, and prolly needs my help.
I would go back to being 25 again. A young, strong alpha buck in the 1970's ... I would go back there in a heartbeat. I didn't know how good I had it.
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
~ Auggie ~
Mendo Joe was a Viet Nam vet. Forward Recon. A hell of nice guy - till he wasn't. And when he wasn't nice you wanted to be in a whole nuther zip code. He would do everything he could to help a guy out, even a stranger. But if you wanted to try to fuck him; you would be introduced to a whole new world of hurt. And to look at him you'd never be able to tell his potential for violence - he was a smallish guy and didn't weigh in at more than 150 lbs. He had a real "laid-back" mixed in with "today is a good day to die" attitude.
One day he and a few sec guys were saddling up to take care of a problem - he didn't tell me details and I didn't ask. But I did ask if he was sure he was going to be ok ... and he shrugged and said, "I got tired of killing a long time ago, and kind of wonder what it's like to BE killed. Maybe today will be my lucky day." He wasn't smiling. The weight of the things he saw and did in Nam weighed on his soul - I could tell.
He had four or five gorilla grows in the Mendocino Nat'l Forrest; each with at least 500 plants. Nearest town was Covallo, a village of about 500, about 50 miles inland from the coast. I started working for him as a pack mule. I (and others) would haul in supplies to the grows. Chicken shit, water filters, food, water pipe, tarps. I'd carry 120 lbs for miles over rough terrain many, many times. Later I had learned enough and earned enough respect to get my own grow. I did three of them over three years and made a lot of money. Once a week he'd hike in with supplies and mail - and sometimes he'd bring a couple of girls with him. What 20 something can spend three months alone in the woods with no female comfort?
The fourth grow got raided, and I spent a week evading the cops and their dogs. (Joe taught me a lot about concealment and evasion and setting up escape routes.) The cops were mostly fat and lazy, but the dogs; those damn dogs ... well I got away - but the cops picked me up two weeks later and questioned me but didn't have enough to bust me. Joe would never give me another grow site after that - instead he taught me how to clone and I raised babies for him for the grows. I tried to get a job with him doing security, but he'd just smile and shake his head and say "Yer not the type Auggie. You wouldn't be able to do that job - and if you did it would change you too much. You are just not the type. You are a farmer. Don't try to be what you ain't. You lookin to make a few bucks more? I'll give you a raise, but security is not your gig."
Joe died young - he was only 44. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him; he claimed it was all the chemicals he was exposed to in Nam. They finally told him he had cancer, and he went fast after that. He died at home with his wife and yellow lab and a few friends beside him. His is the only funeral I ever cried at. Only one. He was like a big brother to me. I look forward to meeting up with him again. I just KNOW he's got a few grows going on right now, and prolly needs my help.
I would go back to being 25 again. A young, strong alpha buck in the 1970's ... I would go back there in a heartbeat. I didn't know how good I had it.
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we choose
We'd fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days
~ Auggie ~
Auggie, Much thanks for that ! When you first told of your friend "Mendo Joe" i couldn't stop thinking of you guys....those times back in the 70's. were sooo different than today...kind of un complicated, if ya know what i mean. It's a story with a sad ending but has so much integrity and value, i'l prolly never forget your very good buddy..."Mendo Joe" ! Thanks for sharing Auggie!
Yes, much simpler ... if you got caught with more than an oz, you did at least two years state time. If you got caught with ten lbs or more, or a field of green, or packaged for resale you did at least 10 years federal time. Period.
Now, there is no clear rules at all ... just shades of gray and the ability for 'the man' to do as much or as little as he wants. Judges are puppets, cops are corrupt, the District Attorney is the new boss.
~ Auggie ~
Now, there is no clear rules at all ... just shades of gray and the ability for 'the man' to do as much or as little as he wants. Judges are puppets, cops are corrupt, the District Attorney is the new boss.
~ Auggie ~
Shundahai Man
New Member
Ain't that the truth.
It sounds like we tramped over some of the same ground. Ukiah, Potter Valley, Laytonville, Fort Bragg...all were "home" for me for various lengths of time.
It sounds like we tramped over some of the same ground. Ukiah, Potter Valley, Laytonville, Fort Bragg...all were "home" for me for various lengths of time.
I think about all of the stupid things I did back then and thank the gods that I'm here now and enjoying the freedom we have now. I do miss my youth and energy , but a lot of it was wasted. My best friend got 10 yrs for selling a $10.00 can(1 oz) to a rat in 1957. He was supporting (partly) his widowed mother and working at an aircraft plant. That ten dollars totally ruined his life, he was just 19 yrs. I don't miss those times very much . I'll take Willies concerts and other live things where can smoke without fear and do some serious partying. I did enjoy water skiing and such , too bad on that. My folks had a resort on lake Pillsbury (close to Potter Valley) in 1959 & 60 that I would do again as long as I could come back .
Tennessee Tim
Well-Known Member
Started growing as a teen in 1967. Pot in my area sold for $80-$150 per lb. or $15 per oz. for many years.I too was so sad when the prices shot up in the late seventies through the roof! Lots of great but often seedy pot that got you wrecked ! I loved the Michuacan, Thai sticks, Red Lebanese,Red Panama, Black Vietnamese, Hindu Kush, Black Afghan, and the Acupulco Gold! Back then you couldn't go to the internet for information and there was little to be found in the library about marijuana that was factual! You learned by experience and talking to fellow "hippies" in person for the most part! While there are some great hybrids today, the original native plant stocks being grown around the world's various regions had been selected and reselected for generations and many were great! Most of the good stuff back then was one or two hit stuff to get a good stone on! Of course there was crap weed then too, just like today, sold by rip offs, especially when there was a "dry" time for the good stuff. Curing well ,was often neglected ,just as today! How lucky we all are to have easy access to information and good seeds today! The prices are way too high now days in the market for how much easier it is to grow good stuff! Good seeds are worth paying for! I hope that I live long enough to see pot growing in most peoples gardens just like other herbs do today and the emphasis commercially is to provide good seed stocks for us growers! I hope that rather than a state coalition with large corporate enterprises, commercial crops are limited with small crop allotments and the emphasis is on home production and providing families additional income through small grows (both urban and rural). The past 100 years of government intrusion in our home gardens, telling us what we may not grow or use from our gardens is hopefully coming to an end! Have a smoke and keep on growing!
