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Whatever Happened to Camel Cigarettes?
Years ago, many more than I care to admit, I was a heavy smoker. At least, I went through a lot of cigarettes. It all started in the Army. No, I’m not blaming the Army. It’s just that in those days, C-rations had accessory packs. Accessory packs contained powdered coffee, sometimes cocoa powder, salt, pepper, sugar, Chiclets, powdered cream, toilet paper, little P-38 can openers, moisture-proof matches — and cigarettes.
The cigarettes came in little boxes, with four cigarettes to the box. I remember Camel, Chesterfield, Kent, Kool, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Salem, and Winston, although there might have been others.
Now, I liked pretty much all the “main courses,” from canned scrambled eggs, roast beef, spiced beef in sauce, and beans and weenies, to pork steak, spiced pork in sauce, chicken loaf, and turkey loaf. I even liked the ham and lima beans — though most of my chums didn’t. In fact, most of my chums didn’t like any of the “main courses” — or the accessory packs for that matter and tended to chuck them unopened into an empty C-ration crate in a corner of the barracks.
I ate pretty well. But back to the cigarettes.
I wasn’t really a much of a smoker back then — but I did puff a few after breakfast when in the cantonment, or with a few beers (okay, more than a few) when we were off mission. The Black smokers claimed most of the menthols — which was fine by me. The filters, any filters, went next. That left a lot of Camels, Luckies, some Chesterfields, and some Pall Malls. I liked the compactness of the Camels and Luckies — and the taste of the Camels.
When they phased out C-Rations in favor of tri-laminate bags of Meals-Ready-to-Eat (MREs), there went my free cigarettes. I switched to Winston and developed a three-pack-per-day habit. By then, I worked out of an office and most of them burnt up in the ash tray — but still. Three packs.
I tried to quit a few times — but to my personal embarrassment, found myself bumming smokes. When I was assigned to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, in Washington D.C., and the powers that be placed me in charge of their tri-service Smoking Cessation Program. Cold turkey didn’t work for me. I quit over time by smoking one less cigarette each succeeding day. In two and a half weeks, I was down to two packs. Easy peasy. Two and a half weeks later, down to one pack. The end was in sight. By the time I got to my last cigarette, I had to force myself to smoke it. It tasted foul.
I washed out my ashtray, shut it in a drawer, and haven’t smoke cigarettes since. But I do think back from time to time to those hyacinth days of Camel cigarettes.
Now, back in the late ’80s, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) came out with a new advertising campaign, featuring Joe (or Ole Joe) Camel. Gone was the Camel hump, gone was the tail. Gone were the hooves.
Joe Camel was a cool dude with an anthropomorphic face and a distinct penile-looking nose. He sported sunglasses, white smoking jackets, and played in a jazz band with his bros. He appeared on billboards, in glossy magazines, and on merchandise ranging from T-shirts and baseball caps to lighters and posters. Each pack had a couple of “Camel bucks” that could be used to buy the merchandise.
Joe had a good run but was dropped in 1997 when the Journal of the American Medical Association accused the company of marketing to minors.
So, do they still sell Camels?
Where I live, you just can’t go into a store, look up at the shelves behind the cashier, and read the labels of the cigarettes on sale. They are usually out of sight and locked up and you have to know what you want. And they are expensive. Yikes. Really expensive. Like $8.05 a pack expensive.
I did some research. Yep, they still sell Camels — and in a bewildering variety of shapes, widths, lengths, packs, fillers, filters, and flavors.
There are Camel Turkish Gold (an extra taste of the exotic Turkish blend), and Camel Turkish Royal (even more exotic, and sold in a in a red and gold pack).
There are Camel Ultra Lights (with a hint of mint), Camel Jade (more of a hint of mint?), and Camel Jade Silver (lighter than Camel Jade).
Then there are Camel non-filters (my old standby), Camel 99s (a longer smoke — 99 mm long), and Camel Wide (longer and wider — a real “fat boy”). Presumably, with the exception of my old standby, they’re all filtered.
Does anyone smoke cigarettes anymore? Well, not accounting for e-products, cigarette smoking in America is way down. The CDC’s Early Release of Selected Estimates Based Data From 2023 National Health Interview Survey reports the percentage of adults 18 or older who currently smoke cigarettes at 10.9 percent.
Even disregarding the health hazards, at $8.05 a pack? Who the heck can afford to smoke?
READ MORE:
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The Rightward Rebellion: Why Young Men Are Flocking to Conservatism
The post Whatever Happened to Camel Cigarettes? appeared first on The American Spectator | USA News and Politics.
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