Cigarettes, Cigars & Tobacco

In the 1950s and 1960s, the majority of the population of the UK and USA smoked cigarettes or tobacco products.

Since no stigma was attached to smoking, it was permitted just about everywhere – including on buses, trains, planes and in the workplace, cinemas and even hospitals – smokers invariably smoked all day long, every day, often smoking 40 to 100 cigarettes a day (sometimes lighting a fresh cigarette from the butt of the previous one).

Cigarettes were widely advertised on television and in newspapers and magazines and tobacco companies introduced cigarette coupons in their packs which could be exchanged for catalogue gifts (much like Green Shield Stamps).

A report by the British Ministry of Health in 1969 showed that 100,000 people a year were dying from diseases connected with smoking. Previously, most people had not realised that smoking was linked to cancer and other illnesses.

The last cigarette commercial shown on American network TV was aired on 1 January 1971. The Virginia Slims commercial was shown during The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Cigarette manufacturers tried out a tobacco substitute in 1977, sometimes referred to as NSM (New Smoking Material). It did not contain nicotine, nor did it ‘taste’ right for smokers, so the brands were withdrawn.

Popular brands in the UK and USA during the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s included:

• ALPINE
  

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• CADETS
  

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• CAMBRIDGE
  

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• CAMEL

• CHESTERFIELDS
  

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• CONSULATE – Britain’s largest-selling menthol cigarette: “Cool as a mountain stream”. 5/3 for 20 in 1968.
  

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• CRAVEN “A”
  

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• DIPLOMAT
  

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• DUNHILL
  

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• EMBASSY
  

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• EVE
  Introduced in 1971 by Ligett & Myers and attractively packaged in a very 1970s floral theme, Eve was a direct competitor to Virginia Slims in the quest for the female smoker market.

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• EVEREST
  

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• GAULOISE
  These French cigarettes produced an immensely thick fog of fragrant smoke. Perfect for a student bedsit.

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• GITANES
  These French cigarettes were popular with Avant-garde types (who were also fond of Gauloise and Sobranie cigarettes).

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• GUARDS
  

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• HAMLET
  William Shakespeare would turn in his grave if he knew that probably more British people now associate the name ‘Hamlet’ with a cigar from Benson & Hedges than with his famous play.

For 40 years, the melody of Bach’s Air on a G String accompanied TV adverts extolling that “Happiness is . . .”

The adverts always followed the same formula.

They began with a mini-disaster or embarrassment – a golfer who couldn’t get his ball out of a bunker or a bald man whose wig is knocked off in a restaurant, for example.

Then they offered the solution: out came the cigar, and as the first puff of smoke hit the air, the familiar theme would strike up to accompany a happy (or at least, peaceful) ending.

The message was simple: a Hamlet cigar might not offer you a trouble-free life, but it will help you deal with life’s little traumas.

As a result, Hamlet accounted for half the cigars sold in Britain for nearly half a century.

• JOHN PLAYER SPECIALS
  The glammest of glam fags. They came in a black box with gold lettering. They were the sponsors of the British Formula 1 race-winning Lotus team. Lotus were so grateful for the funding that they designed a car which looked just like the John Player Specials packet and painted it black and gold (The Europa).

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• JOHN PLAYER VANGUARD
  

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• KENSITAS

• KOOL
  Along with Salem, this was the leading brand of menthol cigarettes in the 1970s. While menthol cigarettes offered no intrinsic health benefit, the menthol flavour made the cigarettes less harsh.

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• LAMBERT & BUTLER KING SIZE
  

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• LUCKY STRIKE

• MARLBORO
  The Marlboro Man, who rode tall in the saddle as he smoked his way through Marlboro Country, started out as the Marlboro woman. Marlboro’s were originally marketed in the 1950s as a woman’s cigarette, “Mild as May”, according to the less-than-successful ad slogan.

The soon-to-be tough guy’s cigarette even came with a red filter so the woman’s lipstick wouldn’t show up on the butt. When the ad campaign flopped. Philip Morris simply switched horses in midstream and created a symbol of manhood out of a failed symbol of womanhood.

• MORE
  This 120mm cigarette was launched in 1975 by R J Reynolds and sold in plain and menthol varieties.

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• PALL MALL
  Aimed at the upper-class smoker, Pall Mall cigarettes were introduced to British smokers in 1890 by Louis Rothman, who named the brand after one of London’s most famous (and expensive) streets. Rothman initially sold them from a small cabin on Fleet Street.

British American Tobacco bought the brand in 1907 and relaunched Pall Mall in 1939 as the first “king-size” cigarette.

• PARK DRIVE
  Along with Woodbine, these were the favourite cigarettes of the British working class in the 1960s.

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• PETER STUYVESANT
  

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• PLAYERS NAVY CUT
  John Player & Sons’ iconic sailor trademark first appeared in 1883, with the lifebuoy added five years later. The famous brand was extensively advertised by enamelled street signs.

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• PLAYER’S No. 6
  Launched in 1966, Player’s No. 6 contained cigarette coupons (or vouchers) right from the start (along with a gift catalogue), and became a popular brand in Britain. By the end of the 1960s the Player’s company held 34% of the UK cigarette and tobacco market.

• PLAYER’S No. 10
  In 1973, a packet of Player’s No 10 (20 pack) cost 18 1/2 P (while a pack of Silk Cut King Size would set you back 30p)

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• PLAYER’S WEIGHTS
  

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• ROTHMANS
  

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• SALEM
  Along with Kool, this US cigarette was the leading brand of menthol cigarettes in the 1970s. While menthol cigarettes offered no intrinsic health benefit, the menthol flavour made the cigarettes less harsh.

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• SENIOR SERVICE
  

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• SILK CUT
  This new brand from Benson & Hedges/Gallaher was introduced in Britain in the 1960s.

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• SOBRANIE
  One of the oldest cigarette brands in the world, Sobranie’s were produced by the Balkan Sobranie tobacco business, which was established in London in 1879 by Albert Weinberg (born in Romania in 1849). The (initially) hand-made cigarettes were made in the Eastern European and Russian tradition, which was becoming fashionable in Europe at the time.

Sobranie was marketed as the definition of luxury in the tobacco industry, being adopted as the official provider of many European royal houses around the world, including the Imperial Court of Russia and the royal courts of Great Britain, Spain, Romania, and Greece.

Premium brands include the multi-coloured Sobranie Cocktail and the black and gold Sobranie Black Russian.In the early 1980s, the Sobranie trademarks were sold to the Gallaher Group, which continued production with a modified formula at various locations in Europe. Gallaher was subsequently purchased by Japan Tobacco in 2007.

• SOLENT FILTER – Menthol cigarettes from Wills (“Like a breath of sea air – menthol cool Solent refreshes you”).
  

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• SOVEREIGN
  

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• STRAND
  “You’re never alone with a Strand” was the advertising line for Strand Cigarettes. The TV ad featured an actor called Terence Brooks (who looked like Frank Sinatra) standing on a street in London, wearing a trench coat, with a hat on the back of his head, stopping to light a cigarette to the strains of The Lonely Man Theme.

The advert was hugely popular, and Brooks became a celebrity overnight, with the accompanying Lonely Man theme reaching #39 on the charts. Yet, as much as people loved it, they didn’t buy the product, and the campaign was soon discontinued.

The theory was that viewers believed that if they smoked Strand they would end up as lonely as the chap on the deserted street corner in the commercial.

For the record, Strand cost 3s 2d for a packet of twenty at the time.

• TAREYTON
  Launched in 1954, this American brand was one of the first to utilise charcoal filters (often called ‘dual filters’) and remained the most popular cigarette in this category.

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• TIPALET
  This American cigarette from Muriel came in various flavours, including cherry, burgundy and blueberry.

The flavoured tobacco also produced sweet-smelling aromas, prompting the advertising byline, “Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere (!)

• VIRGINIA SLIMS
  Launched by Philip Morris in 1968, these slim cigarettes targeted female smokers.

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• WINSTON
  Named after Winston-Salem in North Carolina (where the manufacturer R J Reynolds was based), Winston was introduced in the 1950s as one of the new brands of filter cigarettes which dominated the market by the end of the 1960s.

• WOODBINE
  Along with Park Drive, these were the favourite cigarettes of the British working class in the 1960s. Produced by WD & HO Wills, Woodbine was originally launched in 1898.