Booze + Cigarettes

Once after seeing It Started in Naples (Sophia Loren, Clark Gable) with the little boy lighting up a cigarette, I decided to make a list of films where they smoked a lot. There were just too many and I gave up but one I still remember was Bright Eyes, featuring James Dunn blowing cigarette smoke right into Shirley Temple's famous ringlets.

It was common back then for people to smoke anywhere, anytime. Even when I was growing up in the eighties and early nineties, restaurants in my neck of the woods had their smoking and nonsmoking sections. So did some public office buildings.

My parents said that, during their health classes at school (1940s and 1950s), they were taught that "gentlemen always light cigarettes for ladies".

During my first year of university (the 1994-95 school year) here in Canada, a couple of the main buildings were made smoke-free (they used to have smoking sections) and there were students who were extremely upset over the idea of having to smoke outside.

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JimHutton (1934-79) and ElleryQueen

Man how old and/or idiotic are you, or any others agreeing with the sentiment of your post. How far we've come? Good god.

Stop judging old movies by 21st century mores. I'm sure they would be appalled by things we take for granted.

I lived in the south (about an hour south of the home of Phillip Morris and about two hours north of the home of several other cigarette manufacturers) and I myself smoked at work as late as the early 2000s. I too remember the non-smokers being the eccentric ones back in the day. And, yeah, a lot of drinking went on as well, and I seem to remember a LOT more mainstream people who were raging alcoholics in the '70s and '80s than I seem to know now.

Another thing younger people and non-history buffs don't realize is that cigarettes were often advertised as healthy and "doctor approved". Also Army rations generally included cigarettes as well! I remember stores selling cartons of cigarettes that were PRE GIFT WRAPPED FOR CHRISTMAS...WITH A GIFT TAG! Things have definitely changed.

I understand your point but think you are using today's standards against a time that was very different.

For instance, I'm from Generation X. Both my parents smoke and drank inside the house and socially drank outside the house. We were trapped in the car with them lighting up with no car seats or elbow or knee pads even with skateboards, roller skates and other "dangerous" stuff from that time. Our parents just sent outside and we got to play anywhere on the block with other kids until the street lights came on. I don't let my children go in our front yard unless I have time to sit outside with them and, statistically, I live in just a "safe" neighborhood as I did as a child. It's just that times are very, very different now. We could go to ANY neighbor's house for a cold drink, cookie, kiss on a boo-boo or just because we were scared of being home alone. I have lived in my current location for six years and I couldn't tell you the name of three people in this whole subdivision without looking at our HOA list.

I absolutely LOVED "The Twilight Zone" growing up and always watched the marathons when they come on around the holidays when I had cable. Now, I get to get my fix on Netflix but find myself subconsciously hacking up a lung with all the smoking and imbibing going on!

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"Can we all just parachute down from Cloud Coo-coo Land?" Jimmy-Better Call Saul

Cigarettes were healthy back then, didn't you know? People even smoked in hospitals. It was all the rage.

-Nam

I am on the road less traveled...

It really is very noticeable to us now, watching old movies just how much people smoked! Fancy being TOLD to take up smoking. I went to work with a girl (in our teens) who told me how she hated smoking but forced herself to keep going. My older brother and his school mates were allowed to smoke in their School Certificate exams. Mum and I didn't smoke but Dad and my two brothers did and makes me wonder how we put up with the awful smokey environment in a small unit. Thank goodness that's behind us now.

SkiesAreBlue