WCNotes: Smokescreens change

"More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarettes."

That's probably not true today, but according to ads published in the 1940s and 1950s, cigarette smoking wasn't just fashionable, it was downright healthy. Golly gee whiz, if you believed those ads, your doctor wanted you to smoke!

A friend who knows how intrigued I am by old-time ads sent me a sample of cigarette ads with endorsements by doctors.

According to one Camel ad, three "independent research organizations" conducted a nationwide poll with doctors, surgeons, and specialists in every branch of medicine. Of the 113,597 doctors who participated, the brand of cigarette the doctors said they used most often most often was Camel.

However, both Chesterfields and Lucky Strikes claimed "doctors" said their brands were milder. Hmmm ....

To be sure, all cigarette brands used this type of advertising, but it was Camel that introduced the "T-Zone." This was ad-speak for the nose and throat, and the ads claimed smoke from a Camel was smoother and not harmful to the throat.

All aspects of smoking were covered. One ad proclaimed that a weird ailment known as "smokers' fag" was 90 percent "correctable."

We laugh at such ads today and recognize they were a sign of the times. They came from an era when eggs, whole milk, ham, bacon, red meat and gravy-laden potatoes were considered healthy.

Undoubtedly, doctors knew that smoking was unhealthy even then. But my husband remembers his family's doctor smoking in his office, even when he was with patients.

Years later, that same doctor was still practicing medicine - while toting a portable oxygen machine as he moved from patient to patient. His habit killed him, but his illness didn't stop him from smoking. My own grandfather was a doctor who died from throat cancer, and he knew it came from his years of smoking.

I remember a time when it seemed everyone smoked. My parents smoked, and so did all my aunts and uncles.

It was fashionable then. You couldn't watch a movie or television show without seeing someone light up, and smoking was allowed everywhere.

People smoked in movie theaters, offices and restaurants. Ashtrays were an important part of a home's decor.

I was really prone to colds as a kid, and once I had one, I couldn't shake it. Now I realize it was the effects of secondhand smoke.

It's not just doctors who sold damnation and hellfire in a pack. Slugger Mickey Mantle and then-actor Ronald Reagan shilled for cigarettes, and Marlboro used the image of a baby to sell smokes.

"Gunsmoke" stars Amanda Blake and James Arness peddled L&M cigarettes. He's still alive at 87, but she died in 1989 at age 60 of oral cancer caused by years of smoking.

Cigarette ads aren't the only ads that seem bizarre today. I happened on one ad that depicts an elderly man brandishing a cane with copy that reads, "For prompt control of senile agitation - Thorazine."

The copy underneath reads, "Thorazine can control the agitated, belligerent senile and help the patient to live a composed and useful life." Yikes! We might dope poor old gramps into an eternal fog, but at least he's composed.

One ad depicts a pregnant woman standing at the stove cooking bacon and eggs. "Now she can cook breakfast again when you prescribe new Mornidine," the copy reads. Her feet aren't shown, but I can only assume that she's barefoot.

Another ad promotes over-the-counter heroin for every household medicine chest. But my favorite by far is the weird old ad that shows a woman pulling on a door knob while pleading with her spouse.

"Please, Dave," she sobs. "Please don't let me be locked out from you!"

This ad from the 1940s promotes - believe it or not - Lysol (yes, that Lysol) for "complete feminine hygiene." It actually recommends using Lysol as a douche! Bleeck and yuck!

A 1946 ad for Lionel trains shows a father and his son enjoying a new train set. "For my son, the gift that makes me a boy again," reads the copy.

Does anyone else remember the ad for Tipalets that shows a man deliberately blowing smoke in the face of a beautiful woman? "Blow in her face and she'll follow you anywhere," the copy reads.

Yes, to get your tag number so she can report you to the police for assault. Today, we know that cigarettes can kill, no matter what doctors once said.