I remember when practically every gas station around had beer by the can and single cigarettes for sale at the cash register. The cigarettes were a nickel a piece iirc, and you got one complimentary wooden match along with it.
When I was in the Marines, we somehow came across the keys to an old soda vending machine at our barracks and we filled it up with cans of beer (for 50 cents a can). That was one busy vending machine. The profits were used to throw keg parties on the beach.