Forgotten Cigarette Brands

(Update 2/18/14: See also my post on electronic cigarettes.)

(Update 3/30/15: See also Forgotten Cigarette Brands Part II)

Cigarettes today are not what they used to be.

Well, let me rephrase that. Cigarettes have always been gross and deadly. But these days, a cigarette smoker is pretty much considered as low as a crackhead in some circles. Though it's nice the smoking awareness campaigns have brought the graphic evils of tobacco to dinner hour TV screens, I have to admit, they're as pointless as the anti-marijuana PSAs of the '60s to the '90s.

Besides, NOTHING can convince an innocent kid not to take up smoking more effectively than a kiss from a chain smoking aunt.

In the old days, you used to have a dizzying variety of cigarette choices available at your local grocery/convenience store (more than 50!). Today, there's about 10 or even fewer brands in most places. Today, most brands are available exclusively over the internet. Retail stores get their stock from a state regulated middleman. Which is why in many states (namely Washington State), there is so little variety.

But for remaining smokers, fire up a menthol and enjoy this stroll down the tobacco aisle of yesteryear....

Tareyton - My dad used to smoke these. No longer available in many areas, but they are available on the internet through RJ Reynolds.

 Kent - My mom used to smoke these.

Virginia Slims - Another disappearing brand of women's cigarette.

More - An icky tasting super long and thin "120" cigarette. I snagged a pack of these from the rack at Fred Meyer when I was a kid. They looked weird, so I though they'd taste cool (with that funky brown paper.) They were flat out GROSS.

Satin - "With a LUXURIOUS satin tip", never mind the tobacco inside was garbage. Satin was an '80s upstart brand. I knew of these by the free pack coupons they used to stuff in every Sunday newspaper.

Yves St. Laurant - A fashion designer's death by design. Another '80s brand.

Merit - Another former brand of choice. Of all the low-tars, I actually LIKED Merits. They were tolerable. But Merit was one of those "old peoples" brands that seemed to disappear rapidly.

Doral - A '70s brand.

Multifilter - Known for having two different filters, but the same result.

Vantage - A filter cigarette with a giant hole in the middle of the filter.

Sterling - An 80's brand

Benson & Hedges - Another disappearing brand and the first marketed for the "upscale" crowd.

Eve - A long thin women's cigarette

Viceroy - Never smoked this brand, but it was big in the '60s.

Lucky Strike - Motto "It's toasted" Just like your lungs after smoking a pack.

Chesterfield - A non-filtered smoke, popular from the '20s - the '60s when even by then, it was an "old people's cigarette" Before Kool and their jazz festivals in the '70s and '80s, it was popular with radio DJs (and immortalized as such in Donald Fagan's song "The Nightfly".) I never thought they were that spectacular

Raleigh - This was the brand your old neighbour probably smoked.

Dave's - A '90s brand still being made, Known for it's folksy magazine ads that made you think it was made by some average person, just like you, who wanted a better smoke than what those big corporations offered. Fact: It was made by Phillip-Morris the whole time.

Scotch Buy - Now here was an unusual brand made by RJ Reynolds for a corporate supermarket chain (Safeway and subsidiaries.) Safeway discontinued Scotch Buy and distanced itself as far as possible from the brand in the '90s when cigarette manufacturers were being sued. Smart move. They tasted like crap anyway.

 Bel/Air - One of the better menthols. Now vanished.

Carlton - The lowest tar and nicotine of any cigarette (without the nicotine, there's no point in smoking cigarettes.) Memorable for it's plain magazine ads that read. "If you smoke, please try Carlton" The gist was that it was a "safer" cigarette. But they tasted HORRIBLE and the filters were so tight, you can barely draw off of one.

True - Another weird filtered low-tar cigarette.

Misty - Another '80s women's cigarette. Still being made, but instead of women, it's gay men that buy them now.

Lark - I remembered seeing these on the shelves, but I can't remember anyone who ever smoked this brand.

Cheers! (Cough!...hack!...wheeze!)

(Thanks to Cigarettespedia.com for some of the images here....)

Yes! We Have A Cure For That!: Drug Advertisements You'll NEVER See Today.....

Classic Telephone Exchanges

Back in the day, before mandatory 10 digit dialing, local phone numbers were easier to remember. They had something called "exchange names", which the first two digits of a seven digit local number were corresponded to a word, like those listed below. This is why phones today still have 3 (now 4 letters for 7 and 9) below each number. 

For example, if your number was (and this was one of my OLD phone numbers) 633-3703, with your exchange would be "Melrose" or some variation for 63 as listed below, then 3-3703 or "MElrose -3-3703". In fact, my business card back then actually listed my number as ME3-3703 (with the conventional 633-3703 in parentheses underneath.) Surprised a lot of the old timers!

This system was used widely from the '40s to the early '70s when it was phased over to 7 digit listings. It was immortalized in the Glenn Miller classic "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (which was the phone number to The Hotel Pennsylvania, which Miller frequented before his death in 1944.) Amazingly - it STILL IS.    

I still think it's a pretty classy way (if confusing way for those not in the know) to list a phone number......

(From The Bell System's "Notes on Nationwide Dialing, 1955")

22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29
ACademy BAldwin CApital CAstle	ADams BElmont BEverly CEdar CEnter CEntral	CHapel CHerry CHestnut CHurchill CIrcle	ALpine BLackburn CLearbrook CLearwater CLifford CLinton	AMherst ANdrew COlfax COlony COngress	BRidge BRoad(way) BRown(ing) CRestview CRestwood	ATlantic ATlas ATwater ATwood AVenue BUtler	AXminster AXtel CYpress
32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39
DAvenport DAvis EAst(gate) FAculty FAirfax FAirview	DEerfield DEwey EDgewater EDgewood EDison FEderal	DIamond DIckens FIeldbrook FIeldstone FIllmore FIrestone	ELgin ELliot ELmwood FLanders FLeetwood	EMerson EMpire ENdicott FOrest FOxcroft	DRake DRexel ESsex FRanklin FRontier	DUdley DUnkirk DUpont EVergreen FUlton	EXbrook EXeter EXport EXpress
42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49
GArden GArfield HAmilton HArrison HAzel	GEneral GEneva HEmlock HEmpstead IDlewood	GIbson GIlbert HIckman HIckory HIllcrest HIlltop	GLadstone GLencourt GLendale GLenview GLobe	HObart HOmestead HOpkins HOward INgersoll	GRanite GReenwood GReenfield GReenleaf GRover GRidley	HUbbard HUdson HUnter HUntley HUxley IVanhoe	GYpsy HYacinth HYatt
52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
JAckson LAfayette LAkeside LAkeview LAmbert LAwrence	JEfferson KEllogg KEystone LEhigh LEnox	KImball KIngsdale KIngswood LIberty LIncoln LInden	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	JOhn JOrdan LOcust LOgan LOwell	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	JUniper JUno JUstice LUdlow LUther	LYceum LYndhurst LYnwood LYric
62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69
MAdison MAin MArket MAyfair NAtional	MEdford MElrose MErcury NEptune NEwton NEwtown	MIdway MIlton MIssion MItchell NIagara	OLdfield OLive OLiver OLympia OLympic	MOhawk MOntrose MOrris NOrmandy NOrth(field)	ORange ORchard ORiole ORleans OSborne	MUrdock MUrray MUseum MUtual OVerbrook OVerland	MYrtle OWen OXbow OXford
72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
PAlace PArk(view) PArk(way) RAndolph RAymond SAratoga	PErshing REd(field) REd(wood) REgent REpublic	PIlgrim PIoneer RIver(side) RIver(view) SHadyside SHerwood	PLateau PLaza PLeasant PLymouth SKyline	POplar POrter ROckwell ROger(s) SOuth(field)	PRescott PResident PRospect SPring SPruce	STate STerling STillwell STory SUnset	PYramid SWathmore SWift SWinburne SYcamore
82	83	84	85	86	87	88	89
TAlbot TAlmadge TAylor VAlley VAndyke	TEmple TEnnyson TErminal TErrace VErnon	THornwell TIlden VIctor(ia) VIking VInewood	ULrick ULster ULysses	TOwnsend UNderhill UNion UNiversity VOlunteer	TRemont TRiangle TRinity TRojan UPtown	TUcker TUlip TUrner TUxedo	TWilight TWinbrook TWinoaks TWining
92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
WAbash WAlker WAlnut WArwick WAverly	WEbster WElls WEllington WEst(more) YEllowstone	WHitehall WHitney WIlliam(s) WIlson WIndsor	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	WOodland WOodlawn WOodward WOrth YOrktown	(In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers)	YUkon	WYandotte WYndown WYman

Micronations

Ever wanted to just declare your independence and form your own banana republic?

Well, actually a LOT of people want to do that....

  
Much easier to do in the virtual world than in the real one. Not to say some haven't tried. History is filled with failed attempts at nation building:

Try this game out:

http://nationstates.net/

But that hasn't kept people from trying the real thing.

They're called "micronations". A micronation is basically a one-person government, dictatorship and subjects are usually members of one's own family (like in some areas of Utah or the South) or just themselves. A King/Queen in their own minds I guess. And the land mass is no bigger than one's own residence. 

It also pays to be absolutely insane (or have balls the size of watermelons.)

Sealand:

The most famous of these is Sealand. Sealand was created out of an abandoned man-made World War II Royal Navy base in the English Channel called Rough's Tower. 

When the Royal Navy abandoned it in 1956, a pirate radio operator named Paddy Roy Bates took it over. Since Rough's Tower was abandoned and in international waters, he declared Rough's Tower a sovereign nation and called it Sealand. Bates and his family moved there and the hobby grew, minting their own coins and stamps and issuing passports. All worthless of course, but one can dream, can't they?

http://www.sealandgov.org/

Molossia:

Located in Nevada, this guy is your basic Micronation hobbyist. This video explains everything. 

And he's STILL at war with East Germany.....

http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html

More on micronations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation

Van Morrison's Last Album For Bang Records

You know Van Morrison by some classic albums he made in the late '60s/early '70s, Tupelo Honey, Moondance, Into The Mystic, Astral Weeks. It was these four albums that had some of his biggest hits and no self respecting Adult Album Alternative format radio station would take to the airwaves without them.

But prior to these classic albums, he was under contract to a tiny US indie label called Bang Records, originally a kind of stepchild label of Atlantic Records that had no direct tie to Atlantic. He still owed Bang another album and Van, to say the least, was tired of Bang Records, whom he felt was stifling him creatively. Like Bang's other big artist back then, Neil Diamond, Van Morrison also left Bang because of the label's interference in his career direction, Bang wanted more cash-cow, pop radio friendly hits from Van Morrison like "Brown Eyed Girl", Van wanted something more.

In one of the best examples of How To Do A Contractual Obligation Album To A Crappy Record Label 101, Van got the last laugh by recording some 30 tracks with titles like "Blow In Your Nose", "Nose In Your Blow", "Ring Worm", "Freaky If You Got This Far" "You Say France And I'll Whistle" and "I Want A Danish". It was clearly intended to be a middle finger to Bang Records.

It worked. Bang let him out of his contract. Warner Brothers snapped him up and the rest is history.....

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/03/365-Days-Project-03-05-morrison-van-ring-worm-you-say-france-and-ill-whistle-1968.mp3

Things I Learned From Steely Dan Records

If you ever wanted to drink Kirschwasser from a shell ("Babylon Sisters") or wondered what a big black cow was ("Black Cow"). Or what was Donald Fagan doing "chasing the dragon" in "Time Out Of Mind"......

Here are the answers:

http://www.steelydandictionary.com

I love Steely Dan and have since I was a '70s kid. You gotta LOVE how SLICK these guys were with the various drug references. Unlike today's rap stars, they were ahead of their time by the sublimeness of their lyrics. They didn't put it in your face. They were so cool about it, even the most conservative adult contemporary stations let them slide.

Cheers!

The J&H Productions Tape

The entertainment industry is a rough business. But it's not what you know that matters, but who you know. That little fact is pretty intimidating to upstarts in all areas of the entertainment business.

That being said, let's say you're not trying to be a star, but taking the presumably easier route of concert promotions. Again, it's not what you know, but WHO you know.

This guy....well, I don't know what he was thinking. All I know is he doesn't seem to have ANY experience in concert promotion - certainly not on the stratospheric levels of the stars he's courting. Yet somehow, he's ready to do the job for people like Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers and The Oak Ridge Boys.

OK then......

In fact. I don't even know what he is even talking about two minutes into this recording he made for some record labels somewhere in 1981 or early '82 (I'm guessing because that's when all the stars he mentions were at the peak of their careers.) He talks about his "company", J&H Productions...at length....a full 13:30. But offers no specifics of his company. Any credentials? Well, he got a brochure from the Cavalcade of Stars. And apparently, he doesn't understand receiving that brochure was likely the record company's sublime way of letting him know they already HAVE a concert promoter.

And a rejection letter from Quincy Jones. But you have to appreciate his tenacity.

This tape somehow got salvaged from the trash can of some label giant and had been dubbed and sent to other people in the entertainment industry over the years. I first heard it in the early 1990s and it was like the aural equivalent of an out of body experience...WHO was this guy? And WHAT was he thinking? Could he not make a simple cover letter, info packet and business card, instead of a meandering cassette tape of his proposals? This recording had been saved by WFMU and you can hear it at the link below

Well anyway, have a listen to this tape. TRY to keep up with him...and every tangent he goes off of.......

http://blogfiles.wfmu.org/DP/2003/09/365-Days-Project-09-15-j-and-h-productions-tape.mp3

And just COUNT how many times he says "Pertaining to...." (MAN! Get a Thesaurus!)

Here's an archived fansite, pertaining to...J&H Productions

http://web.archive.org/web/20051212063752/www.timharrod.com/jhhome.html

Yes, it's even on MySpace:

http://www.myspace.com/jnhprod

Created by a fan....even a mini movie on the site!........

It's "The Greatest Show Ever Being Gave". In ALL.........the stadiums.............and............the coliseums. From city to city...... 

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock-N-Roll

Back in the '60s and early '70s, in a tiny kingdom in Southeast Asia very few Americans had ever known of and rarely even heard the name of up to then, a rock 'n roll revolution was happening.

Cambodia was a pretty Westernized nation at the time and it's capitol, Phnom Penh was surprisingly modern and trendsetting compared to most of Asia during those years. Many rock and roll bands were formed during the Vietnam war, taking rock and roll music that was brought to Cambodia by American soldiers stationed there and blending it with traditional Cambodian music to create probably one of the most unique sub-genres of '60s rock ever heard, one that could have easily held it's own along with the American and British rock that influenced it, even in if it was sung mostly in Cambodian.

But the kingdom became destabilized with the Vietnam war raging at it's border. The Khmer Rouge and it's leader Pol Pot had taken over Cambodia in 1975 and began the most bloody genocide and torture the world had ever seen since Hitler's Germany. Over two million Cambodians, one third of it's ENTIRE population were slaughtered in what became infamously known as The Killing Fields.

Virtually all musicians, artists and intellectuals were sent to work in forced labor camps, many were worked, starved or in the case of many women, also beaten and raped to death. Many people merely in possession of these Cambodian artist's records or tapes were killed or sent to camps to suffer the same fates and the records/tapes were destroyed. Very few original studio master tapes survived. However, a handful of songs have survived on 2nd or 3rd generation cassette tapes and vinyl discs that were smuggled out of Cambodia or hidden, from which came a few compilations released in the '90s, one which I found in 1998 and my own interest in this lost music began.

There is a forthcoming movie that chronicles this lost era just before the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia called Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock & Roll.

Here is the trailer for it:

 
Here's one of the biggest Cambodian rock hits.  "I'm 16" Ros Sereysothea

The movie has been in production for nearly seven years, but it is due in 2013. Check it out....It's an eye opener into rock n' roll's most tragic mystery....

Website: http://www.dtifcambodia.com

UPDATE: 1/11/14  - Don't Think I've Forgotten premiered in Phnom Penh. It's US release is still unknown. But here's a recent article about the film and some of the artists:

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/7days/long-awaited-film-tells-tale-cambodia%E2%80%99s-musical-%E2%80%98golden-age%E2%80%99 

UPDATE: 3/8/15 - The movie is currently being screened at selected film festivals across America. It's unclear if there will ever be a Netflix showing or Blu-Ray or DVD release of the film.

Forgotten Shopping: Remember When.....

(Late greetings to the New Year. I have had a lot of health issues as of late. So I haven't been much for writing. Hope this finds you well. - Larry)

Woolworth, JCPenney, Lucky, Pay N' Save & Fredrick & Nelson, Aurora Village, Seattle, WA, circa late '60s.

Woolworths: The ORIGINAL "dime store". Woolworth's was one of the most popular discount department stores of the last century. EVERYBODY'S Mom shopped there and the prices were amongst the most reasonable anywhere. Which might have been their downfall. 

It seems like the prices at Woolworth's, which were the cheapest anywhere also corresponded to the quality of some of their products (which were mostly off-brand names made in Taiwan by almost totally anonymous "corporations" - Sound familiar?)

Then there was their cafeterias (or "Luncheonettes".) Historically, they're reviled as racist relics from an uglier time - especially in the South. But they was fully integrated by the '70s and the food I remember they served in the '70s was prepared by elderly women and reflected a different time. Yes, greasy kid stuff like cheeseburgers were served, but so were "blue plate specials" like meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and the like - even liver and onions. 

The downtown Seattle store, a virtual institution since the '20s closed in 1993. They even still had the ORIGINAL candy center, in the middle of the store which sold licorice by the rope and candy bins that had remained almost unchanged - other then actual product, until 1993. It was a very sad day for me and countless others when it closed. I remembered seeing a lot of young people at that candy area that their grandparents probably had fun at when THEY were teenagers...

The Bon Marche: The Bon Marche was a formal department store chain in the Puget Sound area. It used to sell a variety of items, but later began focusing on women's clothes, kitchenware and jewelry. 

The name was shortened to "The Bon" in 1980 

.....and the full name was restored in 1990. 

In 1997, The Bon Marche chain was sold to Macy's and Macy's operated the chain as the ridiculous sounding Bon-Macy's.....

.....before dropping the Bon reference altogether in 2003, and today operates the stores as Macy's.

 

Frederick & Nelson: Another upper crust department store chain in the Puget Sound area. Like The Bon Marche, it started out as a general (but somewhat upper class department store), but soon specialized in clothing and jewelry. 

Frederick & Nelson was a local institution during the holiday season with their annual picture takings with Santa Claus and had a local favourite holiday candy called "Frangos". 

But Frederick & Nelson's style of clothing selection was extremely stuffy and people were increasingly turned off by the expensive and conservative attire Frederick & Nelson always specialized in by the '80s. They closed in 1990. Macy's today now carries the Frango holiday candy.

Rhodes: A Bon Marche competitor in the Puget Sound from the '20s to the early '70s. Rhodes was purchased by in the late '60s and in the early '70s became Lamont's. 

Their now demolished downtown Seattle building once supported an extremely rare wire rooftop AM transmitting antenna (which were outdated by 1930!) for radio station KXA 770 AM until 1984, which was STILL in use until then! (the station also used to have a funny noise underneath it's fairly weak signal....) KXA spent much of it's life as an independent classical music station before changing to Oldies, Rock, Religious and finally Adult Standards before being sold to a country broadcaster. After a few decades of varying call letter and format changes, 770 AM in Seattle is now KTTH, a conservative talk station.
 

Rhode's old downtown Seattle, with KXA Radio's original rooftop antenna system. The site is now occupied by Benaroya Hall

White Front: The thing about White Fronts was you knew one when you saw one. A HUGE white painted semi-circular arch greeted you as you entered the store and like Woolworth, everything was dirt cheap. But too much expansion and not enough capital forced it's quick demise in the mid-'70s. Most stores were sold to K-Mart, but none retained the familiar "White Front" arch.

A typical White Front entrance:
 

The same Anaheim, CA White Front store, abandoned since the '70s in 1981. It mysteriously burned to the ground a few months after these were taken:

http://www.synthetrix.com/awf/pages/wf01_jpg.htm

K-mart: Still in operation, but barely. The last time I entered a K-mart in Burlington, WA was a few months ago and it was a near time warp. Brands I haven't seen in DECADES that I thought were totally defunct reappeared (Rath Black Hawk Hot Dogs, Andy Capp's Hot Fries, etc.) It's now a subsidiary of Sears (itself a struggling icon department store.)


Montgomery Ward: Now defunct since 2001 (they were dying by the '70s due to their inability to keep up with current trends, which was PAINFULLY apparent by the '80s. They were STILL selling 8-Track tape players in 1985!) The name continues on via an unrelated catalog company.

Jafco: Jafco was a Puget Sound "catalog showroom", a concept of retail marketing I never understood because unlike most department stores where you could get what you want off the shelf. Most Jafco items were on display and there was a warehouse of everything in the back. You had to order these items from the mail-delivery catalog - in the actual showroom, write out a ticket and wait for a stock person to go get it. And these stock people I swore moved with the speed of well,...the mail. 

Jafco was bought out by Best (a similar chain - go figure) in 1982 and changed their name to Best by 1987. And Best went belly up by 1995. Jafco/Best DID have good products though and their prices were pretty reasonable.Here's more on Best including their STRANGE looking showroom facades.

Wigwam Discount Stores: Wigwam was a discount department store chain based in Seattle, WA. Wigwam had it's own loss leader - free popcorn. But sadly, it was rarely fresh popped and it was often stale - to the point of GROSS. I actually got a bag that was MOLDY. It started out selling Army surplus goods (a product Wigwam sold until the end), which made Wigwam a favourite among men, but it also expanded into general merchandise by the '60s. It was defunct by 1983 (damn that popcorn!)