That first video shows what it meant to "live modern" in the 1950s. The couple reminds me of my parents. The Teri Garr commercial shows the ordeal of living in the 1970s and the pathetic hope that cigarettes could bring 2 decent struggling humans together for a tiny moment.
But the one I was looking for is a 1960s commercial with a jingle singing "They said it couldn't be done." The thing that supposedly couldn't be done was to put a filter on a cigarette and have it still taste good. The ad began by showing a few things that "they" said couldn't be done that really were done. The only example I remember is showing Florida as a big swamp followed by images of glorious Florida real estate. The logic of the commercial was that if other supposedly impossible things happened, then this other one probably happened too. See how 1960s that was?
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73 comments:
It was a hopeful time. In the Grand Scheme of things it turned out that smoking killed far fewer people than Communism and was much easier to control than the murderous Leftists bent on destroying the Republic.
Smoking in the grocery store? I don’t remember that!
I tried smoking once, literally for one cigarette, in college. How does anyone ever think it "tastes good"?
Smoking helped keep obesity rates low. There were no significant ($ costly) treatments for lung cancer.
" the pathetic hope that cigarettes could bring 2 decent struggling humans together for a tiny moment."
It's happened many many many times.
Not only did it keep obesity low even after cheap carbs showed up everywhere, but it's a quick hit anti-anxiety drug, you can draw your own conclusions on what has happened to anxiety since smoking has gone out of style.
Cigarette commercials on television were banned on January 2, 1971, following the signing of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act by President Nixon on April 1, 1970. This landmark legislation aimed to protect public health, particularly among youth, by prohibiting cigarette ads from airing on television and radio.
POLITICO
+2
Every time I see an image of Terri Garr, the crush center of my brain lights up.
It’s nice to see a time when advertising focused on men and women working and playing together.
Such wonderful ads. It reminds me of experimenting with smoking at college in the 70s and the first time I dared to smoke an unfiltered Camel. Yum. The little bits of tobacco that would detach from the cigarette and land on my lips. Heaven. Smoking is the only vice I've given up that I can still deeply yearn for.
Camille Paglia noted how feminism trashed Valentine's Day, a celebration of the wonderful dynamic between the two sexes.
"The logic of the commercial was that if other supposedly impossible things happened, then this other one probably happened too."
Isn't the deck is stacked against whatever is being presented as a bad thing, on the back of a smoking comercial?
I don't think she was inhaling. Good on you Teri.
That is the brand that my mother used to smoke. The first cigarettes I ever smoked when I snuck one or two...many, many years ago....
My Mom went to her doctor while pregnant, and he lit one up and offered her one. Then when she went to the hospital to give birth...she smoked in her hospital room. None of us are smokers
Man: Do you smoke after.sex?
Woman: I don't know, I never looked
.
My mom took up smoking, she said, to bond with my father over the morning paper. Then he inexplicably quit, about 1950, and later they got divorced.
She smoked another 25 years before quitting, and he watched as his colleagues dropped like flies around and from heart attacks. He was always going to funerals. What a crazy world that was.
Sometimes I think they lived better though.
Probably not the same "Couldn't Be Done" video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3naSMLjjhEE
I used to love to smoke when I played golf or in a bar. Nicotene is a wondrous drug; it calms you when you're edgy and lifts you up when you're feeling low. I quit about 15-20 years ago and once in a while miss having one.
My biggest craving for a cigarette would be after I went for a run in the mornings.
Nicotene is a wondrous drug; it calms you when you're edgy and lifts you up when you're feeling low.
So, what do we think? Should I try vaping? The only drug I use is alcohol, and seldom past the "warm glow" point.
Cigarette commercials on television were banned on January 2, 1971, following the signing of the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act by President Nixon on April 1, 1970.
And I started smoking in September 1971 when I went off to college. I guess the ads didn't matter much, at least to me.
I quit 43 years ago this month. What an awful habit.
I watched the 70's ad with the sound off. Never knew it was Terri. Terri and Dave Letterman and some cute/charming/flirty interviews in the mid to late 80's.
"had" not "and"
No matter what. Smoking is still cool. Sometimes I wish I could sit back and enjoy a cigarette with my wife. But she doesn't smoke. Neither do I for that matter.
One of my ski partners is a pulmonologist. She mentioned the other day that COPD might become much less common in the near future—perhaps even "no longer a thing" in some contexts—due to the dramatic reduction in smoking rates.
Little Chocolate Donuts and a few cigarettes are what gave John Belushi the oomph to get a gold medal in the 1970s. If they were good enough for John and Teri, they're good enough for me,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxCUHjx7U7Y
I enjoy the opportunity to talk to older people on this blog. I spend most of my time with people half my age. Nobody wants to talk to a boomer anymore, except other boomers.
So, what do we think? Should I try vaping?
One of the slang terms for a vaping device is "robot penis."
Just something to put in the hopper as you contemplate your possible future as a vaper.
One of the slang terms for a vaping device is "robot penis."
Lord, I am SO not GenZ! I guess I will never experience the wonder drug...
But the one I was looking for is a 1960s commercial with a jingle singing "They said it couldn't be done."
Time to send a James Lileks Bat Signal for help.
@Shane LOL
I remember the jingle. It went something like:
They said it couldn’t be done.
They said nobody could do it
Lucky Strike (I forget this part)
And there’s more flavor to it.
Opps. Wrong jingle.
Jamie, if your question is serious, I advise not to start vaping. Nicotene is seriously addictive, and quitting is not easy.
(From a former moderate to light smoker)
Anyone else get hooked on smokes from C-Rations?
One of the slang terms for a vaping device is "robot penis."
E-lec-trical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase. . . .
I never had any desire to smoke, thought it was disgusting. Gross gross gross ick ick ick.
That said, a few months ago the Spousal Unit had to do something in a grocery store's Services counter, behind which they keep the cigs. OMG. It was such a nostalgia trip for me seeing all of those cigarette packs. Rows and rows of Marlboro, of course, but also Winston, Kool, Newport, Salem, Doral, Pall Mall, Camel, Kent. . . .I spent like 20 minutes just gazing at it and remembering all of them from my '60s and '70s childhood.
My dad smoked mostly Camel, but he also rolled his own with a can of Bugler.
As Kak noted, COPD may start being Not Much of a Thing once the large smoking cohort dies off. Very often one can judge one's own future health/mortality by one's parent, but GenX'ers have a difficult time of that because we didn't smoke while many of our parents did. I take after my dad generally but he smoked for 40 years; makes it hard to judge how long I'll live or what ailments I'll end up with.
Yes yes yes. There are positive effects from nicotine due to the release of dopamine. Of course, when you use outside the body chemicals to stimulate dopamine, you become addicted to that outside chemical. Next, what happens is that outside chemical becomes less and less effective at producing dopamine.
If you use highly disciplined physical activities specifically designed to increase dopamine, you can make more and more dopamine and have it be just as effective as the first time you got that naturally derived dopamine hit.
I know. I know I know. Bro, science is bullshit. So whatever you do, do not do anything to stimulate your vagus nerve system and do not tone your vagal nerves. Please stay very anxious and constantly in your fight or flight sympathetic nervous system. This is exactly what the algorithm is designed to do.
So yes by all means go back to smoking because it is so so so good for you.
The Teri Garr commercial shows the ordeal of living in the 1970s and the pathetic hope that cigarettes could bring 2 decent struggling humans together for a tiny moment.
Sarcasm, Althouse? I thought you were anti-sarcasm. (It is quality sarcasm, though).
Hey! Isn’t that Jon Voight’s Mustang?
Terry Garr Young Frankenstein 13-year-old boys do the math
Regarding the 70's ad - I thought the moment when she touches the man's hand to steady the match was perfectly charming.
My parents didn't smoke, but kept a ceremonial ashtray to bring out for guests.
Jamie, if your question is serious, I advise not to start vaping. Nicotene is seriously addictive, and quitting is not easy.
(From a former moderate to light smoker)
Yeah ... this is my problem. I think that "addictive personality" is no longer a thing, but to the extent that any such tendency exists, I probably have it. So, sadly, I will not be trying either any nicotine delivery system nor the mushrooms from last week that make you see little people (whether or not physically addictive). Much as both prospects appeal.
I smoked as a teenager and then stopped and started running track.
I never smoked again, but when I lived in Durham NC (where the L&M plant was) there were parts of downtown that smelled just like a freshly opened pack. I was tempted. It's a very intoxicating scent.
Those plants were converted to condos pretty shortly after I left.
I thought Terri was a blonde. Anyway i loved both commericials. Per Grok cigarette commercials were banned in 1971, hard liquor commericals were never banned, the liquor industry "voluntarily" didn't advertise on TV/Radio until 1996. I guess after 1996, getting drunk on hard liquor was OK but smoking a cigarette was still verboten.
Advertisers are always trying flatter people that they're up-to-date, modern, and "with it" unlike those old fogies in the past. Amazing how people always fall for it.
My dad smoked until he quit in the early 70s. I remember him having salem cigarettes which accoring to the magazine ads had a "Cool refreshing tast" lol. At 6 yo, I can remmber being worried that the cigarette in my dad's hand would burn me, while walked next to him. And how gross cigarette butts and ash were. Made me a confirmed never-smoker.
Jamie said...
“I tried smoking once, literally for one cigarette, in college. How does anyone ever think it "tastes good"?”
Not (normally) a smoker. But some 3 decades ago I bought a box of brandy-infused Dominican cigars. I only smoked one on special occasions. Have one left for when I retire.
Beyond just the brandy, there are several other subtle flavors infused in these cigars that make it a very different experience than the nasty cigarette taste.
I vaguely remember "they said it couldn't be done" and am trying to recall it, but all I can come up with is "Winstons taste good like a bump-bump cigarette should"
John Gierach was an old hippie wantobe, that wrote about Troutfishing.
I am reading his last book; titled: All the Time in the World
MOST of the stories in that book, are actually about the COVID mania of 2020 and 2021. He writes about fishing while wearing his homemade "mask" (made of out a red bandana with cartoon cats on it).
He writes about how, "THIS WAS A MATTER, OF LIFE OR DEATH",
and how "stupid republicans" were killing themselves (and OTHERS!) by refusing to stay 6' away and refusing to wear bandana masks. Gierach is (was) ALWAYS going off on hippie shit, but he usually writes a pretty good fish tale.
It was bizarre reading about the old-fashioned ideas people had back during COVIDmania. He EXPLICITLY compares it to The Plague.
He makes it Clear, that MOST of us WILL be dead in a year.
Like i said, it's bizarre listening to the old-fashioned ideas people believed; back in the olden days
ps. Gierach WAS dead a year after writing this book, died of a heart attack at age 77.
boatbuilder said...
“I smoked as a teenager and then stopped and started running track.”
NFL Tight End Sean Brewer was a chain smoker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Brewer
Jaq said...
“Every time I see an image of Terri Garr, the crush center of my brain lights up.”
Evergreen:
Dr. Frankenstein: What knockers.
Inga: Oh, thank you doctor.
I was never even tempted to smoke tobacco. It just plain stinks, and the people who smoke it stink, even when they’re not smoking. Good weed, however, has a pleasant aroma, and in my experience can be even more effective at bringing people together.
Regarding smoking tasting good: I'm no smoker but had a colleague who explained to me.
His first cigarette tasted like sucking on an exhaust pipe or eating dirt. He tried a few more and felt sick. "This tastes awful."
A few days later he wasn't feeling well and tried one again. The nicotine made him feel better, "Ah, this is what I needed," and he was truly physically addicted. He and others have said that nicotine lets them feel any way they want to feel -- emotional control.
When I knew him he'd switched to nicotine gum, as less unhealthy than smoking, but he was still most definitely addicted.
"The logic of the commercial was that if other supposedly impossible things happened, then this other one probably happened too. See how 1960s that was?"
Like going to the Moon?
Damn. I haven't had a cigarette since 1976, and now I'm craving one, with my cup of black coffee.
They said it couldn't be done.
They said nobody could do it.
But L and M is low in tar
With more taste to it.
L
and M
Don't settle for any other.
Low tar
More taste
Don't settle for one
Without the other.
Found a poster with the lyrics.
-Krumhorn
"john said...
I don't think she was inhaling. Good on you Teri.
1/30/26, 7:15 AM"
Many older movies have every character smoking, with many not inhaling. And, cig pack with name showing for product placement.
"wendybar said...
My Mom went to her doctor while pregnant, and he lit one up and offered her one. Then when she went to the hospital to give birth...she smoked in her hospital room. None of us are smokers"
Memorable scene in '50s B-rated crime movie.
Wounded detective in emergency room. Cop interviewing, Dr. examining, all smoking.
And, "hospitals in the 1950s commonly provided ashtrays in patient rooms and throughout the facility. During this era, smoking was not only socially acceptable but often encouraged as a way for patients to relax and "soothe the nerves" while recovering."
One time years ago Jack Black was on Oprah's show. He mentioned that he had lost a lot of weight. Cheers from Oprah and the audience. She asked him how he did it, and he mentioned that he had taken up smoking. Cut to commercial.
I always wondered if Tareyton smokers really would rather fight than switch. Today I find out that activated charcoal is used as an emergency treatment for poisonings and drug overdoses, so maybe they were on to something.
I sat in the hospital room with the rest of my family as my mother died from emphysema. She was 67. My father died a few years later, also emphysema. Both were smokers.
Of course, everybody is welcome to their opinions- mine is that smoking is not cool.
Thanks for posting those commercials. It's a reminder that people are easily deceived and that there is big money to be made by deceiving them. Some things are perpetually modern.
That 30 second clip shows why Garr was a talent.
@Roger Sweeney and Krumhorn
Thanks!
The musical notes call us to remember the jingle… that I never forgot.
Only white people in the commercials. Along with cancer sticks.
I gave up cigarettes on my fiftieth birthday. I now have COPD. On the plus side, though, smokers don't get Parkinson's. I also have Parkinson's, but the smoking may have delayed the onset.....You are absolutely certain to get afflicted with something if you live long enough. There's a comfort to knowing that at least one of my afflictions is linked to my own bad judgment rather than to malign fate.......Unlike other addictions, smokers mostly screw up their own lives. Nobody ever missed a mortgage payment or beat their kids because of cigarettes.
The history of cigarette smoking in the USA makes a simple chart. Here are both halves:
https://news.gallup.com/poll/648521/cigarette-smoking-rate-ties-year-low.aspx
https://cdn.britannica.com/37/81837-004-940AE1B5/Adult-cigarette-consumption-2000.jpg
Grok couldn't find the video, but here are the exact words: "They said it couldn't be done! They said nobody could do it. But L&M is low in tar with more taste to it! L... and M... don't settle for one without the other—low tar... more taste!"
Used to smoke from age 15 to 55, until I finally took my last drag on 9/18/2014, as I walked into a game at Fenway Park. My first wife, also a child of the '70's, and also the child of two smokers, never did quit, until she was admitted to UCSF Medical Center for the last time and died of lung cancer at 5:04 PST, 10 years ago today, just 3 months after her diagnosis.
Thanks to smoking, she missed her youngest child's 18th birthday (by two days), his graduation from Cal, along with her daughters wedding and the birth of her first grandchild, and that's only so far.
Smoking sucks.
Letterman and Garr should have gotten married. It could have saved him from banging ugly interns and becoming a hermit with a creepy beard.
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