YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM BUFFALO WHEN....
You've ever bragged about your driving time to Toronto.
You save Canadian coins ... to use at toll booths and parking meters.
You watched Canadian television,just so you could see US shows a day or two earlier than they would appear in the States.
You make fun of Amherst ...but say you're from there to impress women.
You go "hshhhhhh" whenever a story about a fireor the Bills appears on the news.
You can make the coins land perfectly in the toll basket at 20 MPH or higher.
You've never been to New York City.
You live on a street that...
changes names at every block
has a very "ethnic" sounding name
isn't plowed until spring
is bumpier than a jeep trail in the high Rockies
You don't really think there's anything wrong with Pat Gambino Ford commercials.
You've ever gotten a speeding ticket on the Youngmann Expressway ("Da' Tooninney") ... but still drive insanely fast on it.
You watch reruns of the Paul McGuire Show on the Empire Sports Network ... in May.
Your personal ad in the Buffalo News mentions ethnic preferences ... Polish, Italian or Irish.
One of your friends claims to have known Ani DiFranco or a Goo Goo Doll from high school.
You can identify what neighborhood you're in through smell alone.
You think a 150,000 square foot supermarket is small.
You think "Lesbos" is a new family restaurant on Transit Road.
You know the lyrics to:
"You Know We're Gonna' Win That Cup"
The Bills "Shout" song
Any song by Rush
"Talkin' Proud"
The Crystal Beach "pay one price" jingle
The Tops "Tops never stops saving you more" jingle
The Sattlers "998 Broadway" jingle, even if you weren't alive when they were still open
You watch the Bills on TV with the sound turned down, and the radio turned to the game.
You've been around Buffalo a long time if you've ever called...
The Bon-Ton "AM&A's"
Kaufman's "Hengerer's"
Quality Markets "Bells"
Buffalo State College "State Teach"
Daemen College "Rosary Hill College"
Jubilee "Super Duper"
You use "the" before the numbers of expressways, like "The 290"(Da'Tooniney"), "The 90", "The 400" etc.
You've held a "waveathon" at four way stop intersections (no, you go...")
When someone speaks of a "family restaurant", you think of names like "The Olympus,", "The Acropolis", "The Agean," and "Your Host", not Denny's or Perkins.
You can tell what part of town someone is from because of their accent. Especially dat der Chickatavaga town der, an de freggin'Wesside.
You've ever feasted on these treats:
real chicken wings (not "Buffalo wings")
real beef on weck (and you call it beef on wick)
charcoal broiled hotdogs
Niagara street clams
pierogies
Weber's mustard
Texas hots
St Joseph's day bread
Twice baked double cheese potatoes and washed it down with Genessee
Cream Ale
loganberry juice
Vernor's
OV
Visniak or Black Rock pop
You slam on the brakes or slow to a crawl whenever you see the "Village of Kenmore" sign. (That is a good one!)
You still flinch when you hear the words "wide right" (remember Scott Norwood-in the Superbowl?)
You use your garage as the living room in the summer, putting a big screen over where the overhead door would be.
You still go to the neighborhood and ethnic festivals, even though they're really all the same.
You feel lucky if you only have to wait 100 numbers at Redlinski's Meat market at the Broadway Market on Holy Thursday so you can buy your ham and sausage for Easter. You fight for a spot at the counter next to Redlinski's to buy your pierogies and the butter Lamb for your Easter basket to be blessed at church on Holy Saturday.
You've nearly gotten into fights over topics like...
-Malecki vs Sahlen vs Wardynski vs Shelly vs Redlinski(weiners)
-Anchor bar vs Duff's (chicken wings)
-Bocce club vs Leonardi's vs LaNova(pizza)
-Tops vs Wegmans (supermarkets)
- the fastest way to drive to Washington, DC
You go to Niagara Falls for the outlet shopping and the Italian food, not the scenery.
You spend hours planning drives to avoid all toll booths.
Your snowblower has more horsepower than your car...and you use it about as often. (How true!!)
You've ever sarcastically said "Fun? Wow!"
You have more than one shovel in your garage. You have a shovel in each of your cars all year long. Your car has more rust than exposed paint.
While living out of town, you've said to your friends...
back home,this house would go for only 80K
back home you could get a large cheese and pepperoni for seven bucks
back home the bars close at 4:00 AM!!!!!
you call this snow?
you call this cold?
you call this a supermarket?
you call these wings?
you call this pizza?
no, I didn't forget to wash my face- haven't you ever heard of Ash
Wednesday?"
Yu know "uppers" and "lowers" aren't drugs.
You take real chicken wings,pizza, beef on "wick" and hot dogs back with you after a visit home to Buffalo.
You don't let a blinding snowstorm stop you form driving 70MPH down the Thruway during rush hour.
You don't put away the winter clothes.
You've fallen asleep waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Niagara Falls Boulevard and Sheridan Drive.
You think the idea of "California pizza" is as sacrilegious as cheering on the Miami Dolphins.
Did You know.......
Did you know in 1937 Mollenberg-Betz installed the first air conditioning system in Buffalo for Sattler's Department Store?
During WW2, Bethlehem-Lackawanna Steel became the world's largest steelmaking operation.
In 1964, Teressa Bellissimo, an owner of the Anchor Bar, concocted the world's first chicken wings recipe. Buffalo has never recovered.
In 1901, Buffalo had 60 millionaires, more per capita than any city in the US.
In 1901, Buffalo boasted more than 200 miles of asphalt paved roads, which were more than any other city in the world.
In 1881, the first electric street lights in the US were lit on Ganson Street in Buffalo.
Instant coffee first served here in Buffalo at Pan American Expo in 1901
In 1840, First timber dry dock in the US is built in Buffalo, to service Great Lakes ships
In 1959, Wilson Greatbatch invented the internal pacemaker in Buffalo
In 1902, Willis Carrier, a new employee at the Buffalo Forge Co., invented the air conditioner
n 1850, the first practical roll top desk is built in Buffalo, invented by Abner Cutle
In 1868, Mitchel Mark, haberdasher, motion picture pioneer, opened first motion picture theater in the US in Ellicott Square in Buffalo. Born 1868; died 1918, age 50, buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery
In 1896, Ellicott Square Building was largest office building in the world
In 1915, Col. Francis Ward Pumping Station at the foot of Porter Ave. was the largest pumping station in the country.
In 1901, Larkin Soap Co. of Buffalo was the largest Soap Co. in the world
The Urban Company of Buffalo was the first flour milling company in the United States to be powered by electricity.
1991 Federal regulators seize .4 billion Goldome Savings Bank. It is the most costly savings bank failure in the United States
1977 Buffalo makes national news as a result of "The Blizzard of '77' that buries the city in snow and closes schools and businesses for a week. The blizzard was responsible for 28 deaths. By spring of the following year, a record of 199 inches snow will had fallen.
1982 The Courier Express, Buffalo's morning newspaper which dated back to 1834, ceases publication leaving Buffalo with only one daily newspaper, The Buffalo News
