Secrets of the City

I’ve never actually attended a meat raffle. But I used to sell advertising for a small newspaper group in the NW suburbs. Many of the bars in the area ran ads for their meat raffles. The bar owners often told me that it was the busiest night of the week. They love their meat in Wright County.

There’s a strip club on Broadway that advertises meat raffles on Mondays. One of these days I’m going to take a picture.

I’ve been to Risk Your Meat at Grumpy’s. It’s a lot of fun. A mix of meat raffling, meat trivia, meat skits and vintage 50’s film clips about meat. Rich and Faith have also been doing Meat Bingo on Sunday’s at the NE Grumpy’s

My friends used to attend the Meat Raffle at the Knight Cap on Tuesday nights. Always a good selection of meat from Hackenmuellers in Robbinsdale.

An odd side story, about 7 or 8 years ago my friends were at the meat raffle and ran into a freelance writer from GQ or Esquire that was in Minnesota writing about meat raffles. They ended up inviting him back home for some cocktails around the chimnea. This guy was floored with the idea and the vast number of meat raffles around.

Some friends are so dialed in to the meat raffle circuit that I don’t even find it weird anymore. In fact, one of them had a meat raffle at his otherwise traditional fancy wedding!

There are meat raffles at the NightCapper and the American Legion post I hang at from time to time. Never bought a ticket, but they pack the joints.

It’s another world. Someone moves through the crowd with a tray full of numbers. It’s usually $1.00 per number and you can buy however many they allow. After the numbers are sold they spin the “wheel” and call out the winning number. Toward the start of the night the winner can chose from all of the selections of frozen meat, chicken, whatever is being offered. As time goes on, of course, there’s less of a choice of what you’ll receive. The one feeling I couldn’t get past is that of trespassing. The others in the bar were regulars and didn’t seem to appreciate an “outsider” stealing their meat! One of the first times I went I won 4 selections and a gift certificate for dinner and/or drinks at the bar. I was happy, but not loved by the regulars!

The Spring Street Tavern has your occasional meat raffle.

No skits, thank God.

Meat Raffles! I was so enthralled by the notion of them when I moved to Minnesota, I created that Wikipedia entry for it! If you know of any other sources to help make it better, please add them.

Nice! Good use of the contributor features of Wikipedia.

Meat Raffle!?

*bites tongue*

Tongue is usually not part of a Meat Raffle Cat….

*hand over mouth while continuing to bite tongue*

Cat got her tongue…

Cat is biting her tongue a lot. Is she getting enough meat?

I generally like to send around emails once every few weeks to a few selected MnSpeakers asking exactly that question, because we all need to look after people we care about.

Ms. Parber – as a vegetarian, how do you propose people get their meat quota?

I don’t eat the meat myself, I just provide it for others.

The real question is: Can one ever get enough?

I would say “Hells-to-the-no”.

Max, you’re so kind. Giving meat to those in need.

Max, I think I have seen your trucks on the road. This is you isn’t it?

Since Max constantly has to offer to supply more meat, one has to wonder how much he actually has to give out at any one time.

Probably just little square bits of his meat, skewered on toothpicks, like you might get at a Christmas party.

Max, I’m wondering if when you say “meat” you actually mean a manz-pee-nus?

Chuck,

What other def. of meat could there possibly be?