In the fall of 1945, WWII had just ended, and colleges anticipated increased enrollment from students on the G.I. Bill. Soldiers had received free cigarettes while enlisted, so it’s not surprising that the habit remained when they returned home. Tobacco companies had initially targeted the military during WWI through the distribution of cigarettes to servicemen, and by WWII, they were included in rations. The Red Cross even distributed free cigarettes to the troops.
Despite mounting evidence in the 1950s of the adverse health effects of smoking and tobacco use, the military continued to include cigarettes in rations until 1975 (wikipedia). Old habits died hard. This image from the fall of 1945 shows a student lighting up before class.
Swollen enrollment meant swollen ashtrays.
Pipes were popular, as evidenced by students, as well as advertising.
I admit it; I enjoy the smell of pipe smoke. 
Even student protesters paused for a smoke break.
And as we know, sex sells. Hence, the cigarette girl. She was the Coyote Ugly of cigarettes.
In the event that some students may have forgotten their ABCs, this strikingly colorful ad on the back cover of this Jayhawker reminded them. Chesterfield=home runs!
I Don't Get It 
My grandfather used to smoke cherry cavindish in a pipe. I still can smell the sweet cherry smell
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A good smell, no?
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Free cartons of cigarettes to the troops. If the bullets didn’t get them the cigarettes made certain those boys would not be around to collect social security.
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Yes, but in the 40s, they had no clue of the danger. I notice all the guys at auto body shops seem to smoke nowadays. Something to do with your hands.
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What do you suppose we do today that will be proven hazardous to our health in the future and folks will scoff at us for our stupidity?
Does pipe smoke remind you of your grandpa? (It does for me.)
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Nope, no smokers in my family. Old Spice reminds me of mine. Honestly, when I’m sitting on the couch with my laptop, I wonder if the computer rays/heat/energy are eating away at my eggs and morphing them into crazy things, since it’s in my lap. I wonder if that will mess up future women. I imagine staring at screens for the last 20yrs messes up our eyes, and texting will destroy thumbs. I hope we don’t find out coffee and butter are killing us. I’m already bummed about sugar enough as it is…
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ah yes, the cell phones, mobile towers, screen radiation, etc. Good point. Coffee can not be bad for us–it’s been around forever and though the pendulum swings (I think it’s on the good side right now, for butter too), it’s not going to kill us.
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Whew.
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My dad used to smoke Camel shorts. That is funny that you write about Camels. Putting my dad’s smokes away in his desk is part of my Friday night memories when I was young. Oh my I wear Old Spice. I feel so OLD.
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Even my son has some Old Spice now. They have so many different scents to choose from. Old Spice is good. It’s not like it’s Stetson. 😀
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Or Hai Karate.
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Canoe, English Leather, Brut…..
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British Sterling, Jade East, Aramis…I’ll quit now.
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Jade East? That’s a new one.
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Jade East had quite the following. You can still get it, or a close facsimile, from Amazon. Here’s how one reviewer described it: When I first met my good-looking, soon-to-be husband 43 years ago his cologne was Jade East. The fragrance stayed with him all day and in my dreams all night. Gak.
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That’s quite man and quite a scent. I feel incomplete, not knowing it.
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My father smoked Pall Malls, red pack, no filters! My mother smoked Bel Air, menthol. And my father had asthma, for goodness sakes. When he had to up his Primatine Mist inhaler quotient to a couple a week, I think, he dumped the butts for a pipe. Amphora. It smelled sweet … in comparison to cigarettes.
Everything stunk to high holy hell because of cigarettes back then, but nobody realized it because one of smoke’s traits is that it kills your sense of smell. Clothes. Carpets. Curtains. Cars. And that’s just one letter of the alphabet, off the top of my head.
I like the no-smoking in public rule, a lot. Thanks, Kerbey. And, Benson, how about Mennen’s Skin Bracer?
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You’re right about the stench. I can’t go to estate sales (to find more yearbooks!) when they reek of cigarettes. Or clothes at Goodwill. I learned the hard way you can’t wash that smell out. Smoking with asthma! But now how do we explain how George Burns lived to 100?
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I think George Burns never lit up, it was just for show … and that he passed away at 83 and they wheeled him out there anyway … good night, Gracie, I appear here at Kerbey’s blog Fridays at noon … ba-da-boom.
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Ha! So you’re thinking it was like Weekend at Bernie’s, but just Weekend at Burns’s.
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Perfect! Tag-team stand-up!!
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It’s a ridiculously hard habit to break. That’s all I have to say about the mess.
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My Dad was a doctor and I can remember him in his clinic with a Camel hanging out the side of his mouth. It was considered a healthy habit, good for relieving stress and helping one to concentrate.
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That’s how I feel about wine and coffee. Did he ever quit the Camels?
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Yup. Cold turkey over a period we all called the Summer of Hell.
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