This WAS the 60’s in so many ways.
After discussing the old man smoking in the clothing store, my gut kept nudging me to write about the cigarette culture/ethos. So let’s begin and we’ll see how it goes.
The sixties were a time when cigarettes were changing. In the second war, they were handed out free to GIs everywhere; that’s how the old man got started/hooked. But now, putting filters on the end of cigs became the soup de jour. Advertising, as always, was everywhere. It became all about taste and how the filter helped. Camel remained the stalwart filterless smoke, but even they eventually gave in–‘drop everything! New Camel filters are here!’
TV ads always pushed the flavor. One person redirected a simple conversation–“Yes, that was certainly great. But, boy, my cigarette isn’t great anymore.” The second man chimed in: “Try one of mine.” I know the old man changed smokes several times after someone offered him a new brand. Men shared smokes freely, ’cause you could smoke EVERYWHERE. Concerts, stores, barber shops, bathrooms, sporting events, diners, restaurants (from joints to la-dee-da places). Only schools and churches were off limits, and schools had a teacher’s lounge slavered in yellow nicotine (I saw it–ugh fucking disgusting). Man’s World: bonding over sharing a smoke, one guy to the next. Echoes of the comradery of the war, moving through the generations.
Winston was always at the head of the pack. That bright red package jumped out of the rack at you and they paid the biggest bucks to have characters on shows shill the brand. Beverly Hillbillies and Flintstones are two examples–‘Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.”
Menthol cigarettes became a rage: Penguins for Kool (come up to the Kool taste), wide open spaces of verdant forests for Salem (you can’t take the country out of Salem), and deserted white sandy beaches for Newport (the most refreshing taste).
The slightly longer ‘100’s’ hit the market, spearheaded by some clever ads for Benson & Hedges, where the smoker had the tip of his smoke bent in public places over a lilting musical backdrop. The situations were usually farcical and amusing. Not the direct Winston approach, but it worked; before long, every brand had a ‘100’–“a silly millimeter longer’.
The macho tough guy ‘Marlboro man’ was a staple of magazines everywhere, usually the back cover. Contrast that to the black eyes of the men (and sometimes women!) who would ‘rather fight than switch’ Tareyton. But if you light up a Kent, you had ‘a good thing going’.
A young boy yelled out ‘All aboard the Phillip Morris train!’ Virginia Slims were ‘the first cigarette made for women’–‘You’ve come along way, baby!’ (Yea, that baby thing would just be a hit in 2024)!
And of course, LSMFT! Lucky Strike means fine tobacco. It even made it way into a Three Dog Night song (a great song, IMHO).
Ah hell…………..can’t end a post with that. How about something more final?