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>>>>As many of you remember, cigarette smoking was a common accepted practice until the middle 1960’s. And in the previous decades to the 60’s, it was a crucial aspect for belonging to the culture. So some old songs had lyrics about smoking, I’ll post a few. Just for something different, for your brain cells to inhale (oops).
>>>>These are memories from the years 1957 through 1962, when I was in 5th through 10th grades. In a small working-class town (pop. 6000) in North Central Illinois, 90 miles west of Chicago (but a vast cultural distance from there).
My exposure to smoking was extensive, because, starting in 5thgrade, I was a drummer in combos that played ‘old-standard’ songs. The other guys in the combos were older, usually in their thirties. I was a skilled drummer, kept steady tempo, played all the standard rhythms, and did not drink, nor smoke!, nor chase women. So my memories are different from the other kids because my experiences with ‘grown-ups’ were different. In particular with the smoke-filled bars.
Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, Kool, Lucky Strike, Marlboro, Old Gold, Pall Mall, Parliament, Winston. We kids knew all the brands, there were cigarette vending machines (25 cents a pack) at stores, bars, gas stations, etc. And there was a lot of cigarette advertising on TV and posters in stores.
Cigarette smoking scenarios were subdivided into several genres, known to us from advertisements and our own experiences.
>>>>The ‘upper class’ was typically portrayed by a scene with a slim ‘socialite’ woman in a fancy dress, elegantly handling a long cigarette holder. Sitting with a suit-wearing man who held his cigarette between thumb and forefinger. They were usually shown in a ‘cabaret’, with elegance and high-class apparent in the surroundings. We kids did not know anyone like this, nor any place like it either. We only saw it in TV ads and on posters.
The ‘middle class’ was portrayed by ‘active’ people who went to local ‘night clubs’ to dance to the local combos (like mine). The ladies had ‘cigarette purses’ that held a pack and a lighter. The men had their ‘cigs’ in the pocket of their ‘dress shirt’. Both held their cigarettes between first and second fingers of the right hand, as did all other members of the genres described below.
Many of the WWII returnees fit this type, as well as did some of the older siblings of our friends. These are the most common type that I saw during my gig experiences.
>>>>Off to the side, probably best assigned to the ‘upper’ lower class, there was the ‘Marlboro Man’ genre. The muscular, hard-living, swaggering, macho, patriotic, salt-of-the-earth male. Completely world-savvy, he understood the real essence of life, through the cloud of smoke that he suavely exhaled into the air. Cigarettes might be rolled up in the sleeve of his t-shirt, above his brawny biceps.
>>>>Next, there were two types of the ‘lower class’. Other than the Marlboro Man, lower class smokers were not portrayed in the ads, their lifestyle was not glamorous enough.
There were the ‘middle and upper’ portions of the lower class, which is what most kids like us knew, that was our family niche. These men worked at some ‘skilled labor’ job, such as plumbing, delivering mail, electrical repair, butchering, local truck driving, etc. They took a break about every two hours, to step away for a breath of fresh air, and to have a smoke!. Their cigarettes were often flattened or bent, due to being in their shirt pocket and getting crushed by work circumstances.
Finally there were those whose life circumstances put them into the ‘lower’ part of the lower class. Commonly exemplified by the first-generation refugees from Eastern Europe, and high-school dropouts from very poor family upbringing. They worked at the coal furnaces in the zinc factory, or handling picks/shovels in the quarries, or loading barges with grain, or working on the trash-pickup truck.
They were tasked with trying to fit a ‘smoke’ in during the work process. Often seen with a cigarette dangling from the side of their mouth. Smoking was one of the few pleasant moments in their lives.
>>>>But another unadvertised classification was ‘we kids’, breaking the rules and passing around a few cigarettes in the evening at the park, to show how cool we were. Followed by chewing two sticks of Doublemint or Wrigley’s Spearmint gum, so our folks could not smell cigarettes on our breath when we got home. Juicy Fruit gum did not have enough aroma to handle that requirement.
OK here’s some songs about smoking. Links to the lyrics provided.
Smoky Places: Smoky Places
Smoke Rings: Smoke Rings
Smoke That Cigarette: Smoke
