Cigarettes is a blot on the whole human race.
A man is a monkey with one in his face.
That’s my definition, believe me dear brother,
A fire on one end and a fool on the t’other.
— Tim Spencer, Cigareets, Whuskey, and Wild, Wild Women, 1947
Don’t know how this popped into my mind this morning but I suddenly thought about how Santa Claus was once a shill for cigarettes in mainstream advertising. Growing up, it wasn’t that unusual to see Saint Nick extolling the virtues of a fine smooth smoke. This thought made me look up some old print ads to share.
Some, like the Murad ads, I had not seen before nor was I even aware of the Murad brand. This surprised me because as a kid I knew all the brands that my family members smoked. My parents smoked Camels. One aunt smoked Raleighs, another Salems. My uncles smoked Pall Malls, Lucky Strikes and Marlboros. Somebody in there smoked Winstons but I can’t remember who it was exactly. Doesn’t matter, of course. Just a memory check.
It turns out that Murads were a brand made in NY using pure Turkish tobacco. As the American tobacco industry grew in the aftermath of World War I, Turkish tobacco use waned and with it, the Murad brand. Their ads with Santa are among the more lurid, with Santa slumped against a chimney as he takes a smoke break from his Christmas deliveries.
Thought I’d share some of them below. A favorite is the Pall Mall ad that promotes cigarette smoking as a preventative against a scratchy throat. Times certainly have changed. This reminded me of an old song that was written in 1947 by Tim Spencer of the Sons of the Pioneers. The song was Cigareets, Whusky, and Wild, Wild Women. While I like their original version, I prefer the one from Red Ingle and the Natural Seven who had a hit with it in 1948.
Don’t know if Santa went along with the whiskey and women part. Wait a second. Of course, he did. A quick search found plenty of whiskey ads with Santa along with some for women’s lingerie, including ne where Santa appears to be taking an upskirt view. The one Dewars ad with Santa without pants is a bit disturbing, as well.
Oh, Santa, I hope you’re clean and sober for this coming holiday season…
Redtree Times 