The Good Old Days… sure – I can almost believe that!“It’s what up front that counts.”
“Smells Grand! Packs Right! Smokes Sweet! Can’t Bite!
“Get satisfying flavour…So friendly to your taste! No Flat “filtered out” flavour! No Dry “Smoked out” taste!”
The first ad slogan was from Winston cigarettes – top of the ad April 1959 Popular Mechanics Magazine – back page. The page continues to brag in the finer print, “There’s nothing wishy washy about Winston. For up front of its modern, pure white filter is ‘Filter Blend’. That’s what gives Winston its famous flavour. (After all, that’s the whole idea of smoking!)
“ ‘Filter Blend’ means fine, mild tobacco specially processed for filter smoking. It’s the real difference between Winston and all the other filter cigarettes.”
Then at the end of Winston’s ad it states, “Winston tastes good – like a cigarette should!”
The second ad slogan is from Page 238 of the April 1959 Popular Mechanics Magazine and proudly represents Sir Walter Raleigh smoking tobacco.
The cartoon shows a powerful bowler with two cute gals talking to one another at the side saying, “There he goes – another strike!”. Second frame the same gal says, “And another thing I like…” – go to the third frame… “His pipe sure hits the mark with me!” To which the dude with the pipe, winks, and replies, Sir Walter Raleigh. Naturally!”
Moral of the cartoon… smoke a pipe with Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco, the gals will think you are something else and it will hit the mark with one gal specially! She will think you are sexy!
The third ad slogan comes from Page 80B – Popular Mechanics Magazine – April 1959 and it comes from Pall Mall Famous Cigarettes.
In small print tucked in under the colourful illustration the words read, “Can light from either end!” Tada – selling point – no filters!
Then it states… “See how Pall Mall’s famous length of fine tobacco travels and gentles the smoke – makes it mild – but does not filter out that satisfying flavor!”
Then the ripe statement…
1. Here’s why smoke “traveled” through fine tobacco tastes best…
2. You get Pall Mall’s length of the finest tobacco money can buy.
3. Pall Mall’s famous length travels and gentles the smoke naturally…
Travels it over, under, around and through Pall Mall’s fine tobaccos!
“Outstanding… and they are Mild!”
(Product of the American Tobacco Company – “Tobacco” is our middle name.)
How stupid could the Old People of the Old Days be? If you could or would believe these ads and start smoking – let alone continue smoking – you had to be nuts – completely nuts with every screw loose that you had upstairs.
When Pall Mall tries to sell its “length” that helps the smoke “travel” and be “gentled” – duh! What happens to the smoke when it is half way… or three quarters of the way burned? Talk about dumb!!!
People in 1959 believed almost anything you would tell them – is my conclusion in 2009.
I was 15 years old and thought that whatever the adult said was right. If they smoked and it was because they liked the taste, knew better about one kind over the other and did it because they were sexy.
As I said yesterday – I read these magazines in the old farm house west of Truax Saskatchewan on rainy days when you couldn’t go outside.
I wonder how many of my buddies started to smoke because of these stupid promises from really dumb ads?
1959 was another time for many of us “church goers”. I went to church on Sunday morning, and Sunday Night – when we could get there. Later there was a Wednesday night prayer meeting and a Friday Night Youth group… where all the evils of this world were talked about and beat upon.
In and around the 1959 era were the “holiness preaching” days. For non church goers it was a time when at least once a year the minister would lather up a good sermon or two – and do a revival thing for the local church folk.
In my memories the local church usually brought in a “revivalist/evangelist” – some one that was a good speaker and could shake the souls in the pew loose of all the rigmarole of sin that had collected over the past 365 days.
I mean these dear folks sitting there listen to the speaker up front lather on about the sins of the day… they were scared skinny of Hell and the Fire that waited there for any one that did those horrible things… like smoking and drinking and playing snooker and going to shows and looking a sexy ladies and worse yet getting involved with sexy ladies.
And the very worst that one could do was go out with a sexy lady that smoked – and then go out to a theater with her no less!
At 15 I hadn’t yet met too many sexy ladies… they were all starting to look sexy however. The ones that smoked seemed to flaunt what ever they had… well they were sexy – what else can you say.
The non sexy ones wore long dresses, with high neck lines and did their hair funny… definitely not sexy.
Today as a 65 year old grandfather I can see what is sexy and what is not sexy still. The difference today is that the gals show me more than they ever did when I was 12 or 15. At 12 years of age you had to do a lot of guessing… at 65 years of age… in 2009 – you don’t need to guess anymore – it pretty much all hangs out or is pushed up.
Yesterday…
Yesterday my wife and I went for walk in the evening. We stopped by a convenience store to buy a chocolate bar treat.
The man in front of me was buying two things that he laid on the counter top. He then asked for a “Players – something of other”. The man behind the counter turned to the gray wall behind him and opened a shelf cover – there behind it were stacks of cigarettes of all kinds. He was about to pass the cigarettes to the customer – but then asked first for his ID. Taking his driver’s license – he swiped it prove his age.
Whoa! What control that is?! Can you imagine the freedom of rights that are being invaded with the purchase of the cigarettes in 2009?
The man buying the cigarettes was anything but sexy… with zits all over his face. He was also close enough for me to smell him… good gracious – he stunk… he would never hit the sexy mark with anyone that was not like him.
2009 will be the Good Old Days for my grandkids in 2074. 2009 will be the Good Old Days for my grandkids in 2074. When they look back on what we did and what we said… I just hope they won’t think we were as silly as the ones in 1959 when I look back.
Although… from what I have witnessed this past 10 years… Oh Boy!
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pall_Mall_(cigarette)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_(cigarette)
Sorry – nothing on Sir Walter Raleigh Tobacco – except that Wikipedia lists that he grew Tobacco outside the Prison he was held in for 13 years… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_London
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