Bot Contest

You people are so young!
I bet you don't even 'member when phones had dials.

Hey! I still have one of those I even know how to use it! So THERE

I know there *was* a Prince Albert -- but why would anyone inquire about his being in a can?

Really? There's something that Mr. Crab boesn't know?
Okay, here comes the long, boring explanation.
Prince Albert was a brand of tobacco, maybe still is. It used to be packaged in a can, maybe still is. It was almost a ritual that, after kids had learned to 'dial' the phone all by themselves, groups of them would get together when their parents weren't home and dial up various pharmacies and tobacco shops and ask, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" The poor schmuck on the other end was then required to say, "Yes." To which the reply was, "Better let him out, he can't breathe in there. Yuck yuck yuck."

I imagine shop keepers heard this one a million times each

I once called random phone numbers and asked to speak to Satan. That gets you much more interesting responses.

Yuk yuk yuk

or call up a deli and ask them if their refrigerators are running

It's harder to do that sort of thing now that a lot of people have Caller ID. Not that I ever called random people before...

One and a half Explainations---

Original prank:
Caller: "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?"
(Prince Albert was a popular tobacco brand that came in a can)
Shop Owner: "Yes"
Caller: "You'd better let him out he's suffocating"

Another northern variation was "You got Pop in a bottle?" Likewise, in the deep south, at local stores that sold pickled eggs and pork brains it was common for kids to stick their heads in and call out "Y'all got any brains?"
----
Prince Albert is now also the name of a certain male genital piercing.

Now reread my last post.
----addition----
I just realized that I skipped over Jbryanc's explaination. sorry

One night while getting drunk with my cousin (yes the lesbian, not that it matters ) we ended up having a rather profound conversation about British royalty being in boxes and cans and stuff. We were talking about Prince Albert being in a can and King Edward or Prince Edward or whatever the hell it's called (a type of cigars I think) being in a box, and the problems with modern society. Then I wandered off to write a story that made no sense, and my cousin moved on to taping a monologue about "essential toeness". You think I'm weird NOW, you should see me drunk.

uh oh, a drunk, purple slimy thing? sounds like real fun

When my brother was little, he used to call bowling centers and ask "Do you have 10-pound balls?" Of course they'd say yes, and he'd go, "How do you walk?"