Cowboys And Cigarettes

[Skeet 028]

Quit 20 yrs ago. Mother died of lung cancer..and a few friends. Blasted things are terrible. BUT ever now and again I get a little whiff of one and for a second or two I could rip that cigarette outta their fingers..suck it down in one drag and dare 'em to even look at me twice..

As part of my job I got people into all sorts of programs that the State had for people's problems..family problems drinking..drugs etc etc. Of all the people who I sent to drug rehabs that kicked 'em...only one of 'em quit cigarettes too. They were of course legal...and even more addicting than drugs in some ways. Only way to quit is cold turkey...but first you truly have to WANT to quit.

 

[Frank237]

When I moved to Montana 30+ years back that was the first time I was exposed to SKOAL. I seemed to be very popular for many years, not so much now. Many Cowboys and cowboy wanna be's did it.

Knew a guy who constantly had a HUGE wad of it in his mouth. Ended up losing a portion of his lower jaw to cancer. He was a horror movie mess when I saw him a few days after the surgery. He died a few months later from esophageal or stomach cancer from the years of having that garbage in his system.

NO idea whats the more disgusting habit. Cigarettes or skoal.

 

[Colokeb]

My best buddy was a Delta Pilot. Fit as a fiddle. Retires at 60 because Homland Security seized his mustache scissor while boarding his own flight that he was going to crash into a skyscraper.

So he takes up cigar smoking while in his woodworking shop while listening to Rush.

Dead in 9 years. Destroyed his FAA approved heart.
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What made me quit after maybe a year in 1961 was the repulsive feeling I got from kissing a girl who had just had a cig. Ugh! Seemed like kissing my Dad.

 

[Old Corp]

Feel fortunate that I never had the urge, even as a semi-rebellious teenager. Always despised the stench and still do.

I think about US society in the 40's and 50's when almost all adults smoked. I suppose it was considered perfectly normal that their clothing, homes, vehicles and workplaces stank like a nasty ashtray. Errant holes burned in clothing, yellowed fingers and teeth. Almost every bar and restaurant, if busy had that layer of smoke hanging in it.
Nope, couldn't handle it.

 

[zzzippper]

I like the WWII ad featuring sergeant John Agar--who has a lit cigg and is also drinking a hot cup of joe.I cant postit here soyou will have to google for it. Anyway,its one of the most iconic pieces of advertisement art ive ever seen. I THINK it was in The Saturday evening Post???????and I THINK it was done by: Norman Rockwell.

The closest I could get was Gary Cooper in buckskins for Chesterfield.

 

[Onomea]

I smoked for over forty years. Quit in New Delhi, October, 2012. So far, so good, this time around. I think the trick to staying quit is to not fool yourself that you can just smoke one for old times sake...

Marlboro reds. Yeah, I miss 'em.

 

[reddogge]

Smoked for a few years in the 60s and stopped for good in 1965. My fraternity brother from college is dying right now from lung cancer and has a week to live. We hung around since the mid 60s. Wish he would have quit too.

 

[Salty RI]

I smoked cigarettes in HS and quit right after. Started enjoying cigars about 6 years later and still enjoy my daily cigar. Spent a pretty penny on them over the years, but I truly enjoy the time with them.
I never say "I going to smoke a cigar", I say "I going out to enjoy a cigar".

What this country need's is a good .05 cigar.

 

[armenius]

The old ads in WWII and thereabout really glamorized smoking,also the movies.Cigarettes were in all C Rations.We used to sneak a few from a friends fathers Home Guard supply.Only a humane would continue something that makes you deathly ill until you could master it and then be hooked.
Folks were to try the Camel 30 day test,Doctors endorsed various brands.The joke went around that 9 out of 10 Doctors who tried Camels for 30 days went back to their wives.They were wonderful with a coffee,a drink,for boredom and stress.We often had " the fighter pilot's breakfast...a cigaret a smoke and a puke!".After a 1000 tries,using patches,gum and lozenges with nothing but nightmares and unable to shake the addiction I gave it up cold turkey with only prayers.I have abstained now for 25 years and probably would have been dead if I hadn't stopped smoking.I rarely have a brief flashback after a certain meal,or downing a nice buck but I am able to resist.Like all addicts I am sure I would start back up if I tried one.

 

[whitecoyote]

Most folks in the Detroit, MI area will remember the "Marlboro Man". He was always there on East bound I-94 (near Metro Airport).