The "Smoking My Way To The Love Of My Life" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading an online copy of "The Saturday Evening Post" which at one time was one of my favorite magazines.  The magazine was dated September 25, 2019 and featured an article titled "When Smoking Was Just What the Doctor Ordered."  Hard to believe that at one time smoking was glamorous and the thing to do...even for DOCTORS!  

One of the oldest advertisements I could find. Click to enlarge.

Decades before the public health campaign against smoking, tobacco companies tried to align their brands with doctors using bribery and ludicrous health claims.  And...for many years it worked!  I was born in 1944 and two years later R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company began making a bold claim in their ads that "More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!"  To back up their statement they said, "113,597 doctors from coast to coast were asked what brand they smoked".  

Lucky Strike advertisement.

Seems many of these doctors were given free Camel cigarettes as a bribe.  Never found whether they actually smoked them.  This R.J. Reynolds ad campaign was published in most national magazines for six years and television commercials showed men in lab coats gleefully lighting up while reading thick textbooks or making house calls.  My mother and father smoked.  My granddad smoked.  By the time I was in high school most of my friends smoked.  So...I smoked also.  I smoked before I could drive a car.  I raised guinea pigs in my back yard to sell to testing labs and to get food for them I would hitch my wagon to my bike and ride the alleys of my neighborhood to the local grocery store where they would give me all the loose lettuce leaves to load in my wagon.  

Another doctor ad as seen in "The Saturday Evening Post".

On my trip to and from the grocery store I would smoke a cigarette.  That was in the late 1950s.  Eventually my mom and dad discovered my cigarettes and told me that if I was going to smoke, they would prefer I smoke a pipe as my granddad did.  They thought it would be better for me than smoking cigarettes.  So, I rode my bike to pick up lettuce smoking a pipe.  See how ridiculous this sounds.  Well, smoking was ridiculous.  Actually, in the 19th century it was widely believed that smoking could cure ailments such as asthma, bronchitis, hay fever and influenza.  

Movie and TV stars pushed tobacco in the form of cigarettes.

It was said you would get immediate relief.  Then along came the 1960s and everyone began to pick up the habit.  Then "Lucky Strike Cigarettes" claimed they were less irritating to sensitive and tender throats than other cigarettes.  Then along came Philip Morris Company and claimed that their cigarettes were scientifically proven to be less irritating as "eminent doctors reported in medical journals."  They insisted their addition of diethylene glycol, a poison, into their tobacco made it moister and better on the throat.  I smoked my way through high school and college until I met a young girl named Carol.  On our first date she sensed that I smoked.  She asked me and when I said I did, she told me she wouldn't go out with any more.  SO I QUIT THAT NIGHT!  

Lucille Ball advertised Philip Morris.

Haven't smoked since!  Sadly, smoking was what caused the death of both of her parents.  Since that time smoking has been proven to cause a variety of diseases.  But, people still smoke!  Lancaster County is still famous for the tobacco they grow.  Amish farm fields are filled with the green leaves of tobacco.  And, their entire family shows up when it is time to cut the crop and store it in their tobacco sheds.  During our frequent trips to the island of St. Martin, it seems as if most of the French living on the island are smokers.  Cigarettes that are sold on the island do not carry the USA taxes, thus sell for quite a bit less than in the USA.  Will people ever learn?  Sadly not in my lifetime!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Were We Duped? Story

It was an ordinary day.  There on the front page of Lancaster's LNP Always Lancaster morning newspaper was the headline: "ORIGIN STORY - Feds: Bollman Hat marketing tack was misleading."  It was back on November 27, 2016 that I wrote a story about my brother Steve and I making a visit to the Bollman Hat Company which is located in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.  

The Bollman Hat Company in Adamstown, Pennsylvania.

We had a great visit.  Had a chance to meet Don Rongione, president and CEO of Bollman Hat Co. who talked to us and told us that every piece of clothing, from his underwear to his Bollman hat had been made in America.  Now I'm finding out that he may have been fibbing.  Story in he newspaper tells of Bollman Hat Co. settling a federal complaint alleging it falsely and deceptively implied that all of it products are made in America when in reality, they aren't.  Naturally Bollman denies the allegations by the Federal Trade Commission.  

Logo in question.

At issue was Bollman's use of their marketing phrases, "American Made Matters," "Choose American," and "Made in USA since 1868."  The FTC said that consumers such as Steve and I could have concluded that all Bollman products are made in the United States.  That's exactly what we concluded, since that's what he told us.  Just happens not to be true.  As for me..."Say it ain't so Don!"  The FTC was able to prove that in many instances Bollman's products are totally imported while in others there are significant inputs to their products from overseas.  Therefore the representation that they are American Made is false or misleading.  And...I agree!  

Mr. Don Rongione, company President and CEO.

Mr. Rongione said the issue seems to come from the "American Made Matters" logo on their website.  Duh!  Seems that "American Made Matters" is a campaign that he started in 2009 and other companies could join the campaign if they met certain standards and claim the same thing...for a price.  Evidently Mr. Rongione shouldn't have been using his own logo.  He said that he never suggested that every branded and private label product that Bollman Hat Co. produced was made in their factory.  Now, he is right when he says this.  He never said that all the products they sell were made in Adamstown, but I'm sure that most everyone on the tour that Steve and I were on assumed they were made there.  I think we might have been duped.  

One of the product lines at the factory.

But, to be fair, what we did see being made were top notch quality.  And, the workers were fantastic artisans.  The newspaper story did say that the CEO pointed out the company imports their straw hat bodies, known as blanks, then shapes, stiffens and dyes the hats at Adamstown.  Those hats are labeled "made in the USA of globally sourced materials."  70% of their hats styles are imported or finished products.  Since the complaint, their website took down the "American Made Matters" logo.  That was the logo or seal that the FTC was critical of in the past.  Mr. Rongione countered that his logo never said all hats were totally made in the USA.  I can see both sides of the story and hope there can be a satisfactory outcome for both sides.  The Bollman Hat Company is the USA's oldest hat manufacturer, having been founded 150 years ago and owned by the employees, and I hate to see it struggle due to logo wording.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   

The "When Smoking And Sports Went Hand-In-Hand" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my living room talking with Parke who was one of my Graphic Arts students when I first started teaching at Manheim Township in 1968.  Parke's father had a small company that made negatives and plates for printing companies.  When Parke graduated he took over his father's shop when his father retired from the business.  For years I made use of Parke's services while working for the high school as the in-house printer.  Eventually the school purchased their own copy camera and I didn't need to use Parke's services as much, but still took work to him to make sure he would still be available if I needed a special negative or couldn't do a project on the camera I had at the school.  One item Parke helped me with every fall was making halftone negatives for all the photographs I used in the football program which I did for the high school team.  I talked the Coca Cola Company into supplying the color covers as well as a color insert and used paper donated by one of the many paper companies that the school purchased paper from to complete the program.  I printed, assembled and stapled the 32-page program five times a year for home games and after about 15 years called it quits.  

Cover of the 1940 Eagles Program.

Well, a few days ago Parke called asking if I could look at one of the old Philadephia Eagles programs he had from 1940 and see if I could figure out how to frame it for him so he could give it to his nephew as a Christmas gift.  He wanted me to frame it so it could be removed in case his nephew wanted to view the inside of the program or show the program to his friends.  He left if with me and a few days later I called to tell him I had finished it.  I cut a double mat, making the inside mat smaller so the program could rest in the groove between the two mats.  Also added some depth to accommodate the thickness of the program.  I added a small black frame and held the mat, glass and program in place with black metal clips that could be opened and closed when needed.  

Team photo.  Click on photos to enlarge.

But, what was most interesting to me was the program itself.  In 1940 the Philadelphia Eagles were in the National Football League which at the time had these teams:  Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Rams, New York Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers, Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions and the Philadelphia Eagles.  

Team photographs

The program cost 10 cents to buy and had a team photo, individual player photos, team schedules for all teams, a few advertise- ments, a page devoted to the team they were playing and most impressive was a color page in the center with team rosters, player numbers with positions and names of the officials.  Much like the Coca Cola insert I used almost 30 years later.  But, one think I didn't have in the program I printed was a color ad in the center that featured Chesterfield Cigarettes.  

Ad from the program for Knox Gelatine.

The final result looked great and Parke loved it.  I asked him if he had any other old programs and he said he had quite a few in a box in his attic.  Told him I might be interested in them if he wants to sell them.  After he left I grabbed my laptop and checked eBay to see what old football programs were selling for at the moment.  Wow!  No, double Wow!!  A 1969 Bears program was priced at $36.99, a 1958 Chicago Bears program was priced at $86.25, a 1964 Cleveland Browns program was priced at $89.99, a 1953 Eagles program was priced at $109.25, a 1949 Pittsburgh Steelers program was priced at $143.75, a 1950 Washington Redskins program was priced the same as the Steelers program,  a 1957 New York Giants program was priced at $166.75 and a 1939 Detroit program was priced at $174.00.  And, this was all on page one of the listings.  What might the program I had just framed sell for?  And, what might the programs that Parke has in his attic be worth.  As the saying goes ... only time will tell!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The centerfold of the program with the Eagles and Giants rosters, numbers and positions.  And, sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes.

  

The "The Magnificent Clydesdales Of Budweiser" Story

The Clydesdale to the left is having his legs combed while
the one to the right is having his tack put in place.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing next to over 2,000 pounds of magnificent animal behind Lancaster's Clipper Magazine Baseball Stadium.  He has just been fitted with his tack which weighs over 130 pounds.  The tack, or harness, is handcrafted with solid brass, patent leather, and stitched with pure linen thread.  It is made especially to fit any Clydesdale; however, collars come in various sizes and must be individually fitted to the Clydesdales like a finely tailored suit.  

One of three trucks carrying the world famous Budweiser
Clydesdales and the easily recognizable beer wagon.

The tack for each horse can cost as much as $10,000 to $12,000; perhaps much more than a finely tailored suit.  I read in the newspaper a few days ago that the famous Budweiser Clydesdales were going to appear at The Clip over the weekend.  Knew immediately that Carol and I would be in attendance since she owned a horse while growing up and just loved viewing the steeds of Budweiser.  We arrived just as the famous red tractor trailers began to open on the south side of the ballpark.  

A 2,000 pound Clydesdale is led from his stall in
the trailer to prepare for the eight-horse team.

Place was already crowded in the front awaiting the team of horses.  We parked and I told Carol we may be able to watch the horses being hitched to the beer wagon if we walk around to the south side of the ballpark.  Sure enough, we rounded the stadium and there was a big crowd lining one side of the driveway, waiting for the horsed to exit the trailers.  Clydesdales originated in the early 19th century when farmers who lived along the banks of the River Clyde in Lanarkshire, Scotland imported a few Great Flemish horses and mated them with local mares.  Thus, the Clydesdales were born.  

The Budweiser beer wagon.

In order to be a Budweiser Clydesdale a horse must stand at least 18 hands high (6 feet tall),  be a gelding (a neutered male) at least 4 years old, have a bay coat, four white stockings, a blaze of white on the face, a black mane, a black tail and weigh between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds.  Now, I know these facts since the fellow standing in front of me with the microphone, dressed in the neat red uniform, is telling all of us who gathered in front of the trailers to get a look at the horses.  He also told us that each horse consumes 20 to 25 quarts of whole grains, minerals, vitamins, 50-60 pounds of hay and 30 gallons of water each day.  

This guy is all ready to be placed in
his spot to transport the wagon.

The trailers we see in front of us are one of three traveling hitches which are based in St. Louis, MO; Fort Collins, CO; and Merrimack, NH.  Each traveling hitch consists of ten horses, the red, white and gold beer wagon and other essential pieces of equipment which are housed in three 50-foot tractor-trailors which have air cushioned suspension and thick rubber flooring.  This hitch has been traveling in the local area with nightly stops at a local stable so the horses can rest.  As we watched each horse exit their trailer we were told their names and how much they weighed.  After having their entire body brushed and the long white hair on their legs combed, the tack was placed on them and they were led to the wagon.  Their position on the wagon was based on their age, weight and training.  Wasn't long before "Barley", the wagon's Dalmatian was led from the trailer to a grassy area and then to a spot where his harness bearing the Budweiser symbol was place on him and he was lifted onto the wagon where he took his spot next to the two drivers.  

The first of eight spots has been filled with the first horse.

The fellow with the mic told us that driving the hitch required quite a bit of physical strength since the leather lines weigh 40 pounds and the tension of the 12 tons of wagon and horses creates over 75 pounds.  Rigorous training is required to be able to sit on the wagon seat and assume the prestigious role of "Budweiser Clydesdale Hitch Driver."  Well, the hitch has begun to move and I have my camera ready.  So exciting to watch these eight magnificent Clydesdales pull the shining cart with driver's and "Barley" sitting proudly on the seat.  I hope my photographs can show half the excitement I feel at the time.  Gotta go ... here they come.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Decoration on the harness can be seen in this photo.

The Budweiser logo is on everything including the horse's blinder.  

A Farrier is only a phone call away if one is needed.  The horseshoes measure 20 inches end to end and weigh about five pounds each.

This guy is ready to be part of the team.  Notice the roses that follow his mane.

The first two horses in the team of eight are now in place.

One of the trainers prepared yet another horse.

This horse is having the very heavy collar put in place.

"Barley" is preparing to ride on the wagon.

View of one of the trailers with an image of a Clydesdale on the cab. 

And ... here they come!

What a wonderful view of the hitch.

Passing by me are the first two of eight horses.

Final few horses ready to pass by.  

The proud drivers and just as proud "Barley".

What a great time we had.

The "Oldies But Goodies Advertisements" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Walking through yet another antique shop in another little town along the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland looking for nothing in particular, since I already have too many antiques in my home, myself included. Came upon an entire stand that featured 20th century advertisements for items such as food, drink and even smokes.  As I looked through the stand I found some that were visibly older than others and some that seemed as if I had just seen them a few years ago.  And, I guess that's possible since 20th century advertisements could have been anything from January 1, 1901 until December 31 of 2000.  Took photographs of some of the most interesting advertisements to share with you.  Now, the older you are, the more you may enjoy the ads, since some advertisements I took photos of may be older than some of you.  How would you feel if you were viewing an advertisement printed on paper or cardboard that was older than you?  I doubt if I came upon too many older than me, but it might have been possible.  Can't include all the photos I took, since you may become bored, but have posted some of my favorites in a few different areas of interest.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.