Smokes and Oranges

Writing in The Times today, Michael Gove comments on the new film about Brian Clough, "The Damned United", with "we are back in a different world when ashtrays were laid out with oranges in the dressing room at half time".
I remember those days though not at the level of sport Gove mentions. A forward I knew who had not played rugby for many years was induced to play for the college third team, of which I was a player, only to give up the ghost at half time to relax and smoke a few cigarettes; he never returned to the field of play.
A friend of mine who was a sprinter once ran against Ken Jones, Olympic sprinter and famous Welsh wing three-quarter (who scored the winning try against the All Blacks back in the 50's). My friend was given a ten yard start. Ken Jones arrived, he told me, fag in hand; he placed the fag on the grass at the starting line and the race began. Half way to the finishing line my friend was overtaken. Then Ken Jones returned to the starting point, picked up his still burning cigarette and proceeded to continue smoking it.
There was, about fifty years back, an American tennis player (can't remember his name) who arrived on the centre court at Wimbldom with a cigarette in hand. I can't recall how far he went up the Wimbledom ladder but I'm sure he didn't win the tournament.
My favourite "oranges story" is that of the second rate rugby team at Tredegar back in the 1930' or 40's. In those days rugby was an amateur sport and it was "not done" for players to be paid. Yet it was well known that certain teams did pay players. Tredegar was one of those teams. So, when quality players got too old to play in the first class games they joined teams like Tredegar where they received financial rewards "in the boot". But how did the team managers cover up these payments? Well, half oranges were always distributed to the players at half time and at the end of the year this expense was dutifully recorded on the annual report of expenses - "Oranges £300".