Ladies with cigarettes

[jamespowers]

Do I detect a bit of politely-translated "Life's too short to waste it on the cheap crap" there?

Of course! Who wants to smoke and drink cheap stuff?! Not only are they worse for you in terms of construction and additives but they don't look as cool either.

 

[Chainsaw]

Eh, if I buy a ten dollar pack of DuMariers I'm probably gonna chain smoke that whole pack, just becuase they're so good. Now if I'm gonna buy a ten dollar carton of Indians, it's gonna last a month, because I can take them or leave them.

 

[swinggal]

I like Nats because they are not full of crap like other tobaccos. They are smooth and lst longer. Cheap cigarettes taste filthy. It's like the difference between eating Kraft cheese slices and an awesome triple Brie. No comparison.

 

[Tomasso]

I like Nats because they are not full of crap like other tobaccos.

Yep, they're like a cigar in that if you don't keep drawing on them they'll go out. Dunhill used to do the same but they changed the recipe some time ago.

When I did smoke cigs I would often carry Sobranie Black Russians at Black Tie events. Though not my favorite smoke they provided just the right look.

 

[swinggal]

Yeah, I've had Sobranie when I couldn't get Nats. They taste very ordinary to me and I've never bought them again. I like the Nats Black and Gold and the Ovals as well.

 

[Louise Anne]

I cannot imagine what it would like to be addicted to smoking. The urge to smoke all the time just never occurs to me. I also don't make a public show of smoking, in fact most of my friends have no clue that I have one now and again, and that's how I like it.

These look like a full strength cigarette to me, When I stated smoking it took me a relative long time to stop been light headed and as you only smoke very occationally you might me a little more adicted than you might think, clearly have a very strong will power. that depend I image how much you inhale.

 

[swinggal]

Meh, I'm lucky if I have one every 2 months. So no, not addicted Don't need will power as I don't NEED them. I see it as a treat now an again and been doing it for about 10 years. I keep a box of Nats in the freezer, which keeps them fresh. Lasts me literally forever. As for inhaling, no point in having one otherwise!

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Meh, I'm lucky if I have one every 2 months. So no, not addicted Don't need will power as I don't NEED them. I see it as a treat now an again.

Agreed. I am an occasional smoker of clove cigarettes.

I like the taste. And I have one at the occasional evening out with friends, usually while they are having a cigar..etc.

A pack lasts me maybe 9 months or more. And they are there and available, so if I were addicted, they would be there to be smoked, and they usually sit there until some social occasion.

I think while the vast majority of smokers are dependent, that there is room for the idea that there are people like Swinggal and myself that smoke a cigarette like others enjoy cigars.

And no one goes around discussing how the once a month cigar enthusiast is addicted.

 

[swinggal]

Here here. Smoking used to a luxury at one point in history. People did not smoke the way they do now. All the horrible addictive properties were increased in droves to get people addicted, thereby selling more product.

A luxury cigarette is like a cigar, only for now and then and to be savoured. And yes, none of my friends who smoke cigars are accused of being addicted. Anyway. I'd never call myself a smoker...because I'm not one. I am an occassional indulger.

 

[Louise Anne]

I am sorry, I was using the word Addiction in a very loose sense. It's not not my intention to stray off topic too much or upset any one.
Just in my personal opinion addiction can work in different ways not always just about substance dependence .

 

[Miss Scarlet]

I too only smoke on special occasions, or even when it suits the outfit. I'd hate to let cigarettes control me. I find it so disturbing seeing people pale and shaking for a cigarette.

When I'm in my little "vintage world" and cooking, I sometimes enjoy having swing music on and smoking. I feel like I become a true 1940s woman...whilst being careful not to get it in the food :whistling

 

[TillyMilly]

I love the look - there is a classic photo of Rita Hayworth with an elegant cigarette holder that I love. I love the whole femme fatale thing and many of them smoked in the movies.

BUT- I hate the smell, the taste, I hate the yellow teeth and nail, the smokers cough, the expense and most of all I hate the health effects. All the women in my family, except me, smoked at one time and both my grandmothers died of lung cancer and now my own mother is battling with cancer, and it's breaking my heart. I just can't fathom why anyone would start smoking in this day and age....

Erm..sorry about being a downer chaps..

 

[TrenchGuy]

I remember an 80's anti-tobacco ad where two teenager boys were hanging around somewhere and looking at some specific girl and telling the viewers how beautiful she is and so on. Then the girl starts smoking a cigarette and the boys are like "Eww, she smokes, we don't want her anymore!".

I think that was the most ridiculous anti-tobacco advertisement ever. I certainly wouldn't leave a beautiful girl because she smokes. Heck, I smoke myself...

 

[dhermann1]

"Heck, I smoke, myself" That's the key thing. Smoking kills your ability to taste and smell things. To a smoker, another smoker smells normal. To a non smoker, a smoker smells like a dead animal, one that's been dead for a while.
50 years ago smoking was so ubiquitous that even non smokers were so used to the presence of cigaret smoke EVERYWHERE, that we didn't notice it.
Now that smoking is not done in most public places, it's very noticeable.
If you want to know what it was like back then, check out the films from the 1952 Republican Convention. It was the first US convention covered by TV. I think it was in Madison Square Garden. There are about 10,000 people there ALL smoking chimneys. There must have been cigaret ashes like snow drifts to sweep up.
Ooops. This almost sounded like an anti smoking rant. Sorry.
Anyway, it doesn't look terribly glamorous.

 

[HadleyH]

Ingrid Bergman receiving a light from Danny Kaye.

 

[Miss sofia]

"Heck, I smoke, myself" That's the key thing. Smoking kills your ability to taste and smell things. To a smoker, another smoker smells normal. To a non smoker, a smoker smells like a dead animal, one that's been dead for a while.
50 years ago smoking was so ubiquitous that even non smokers were so used to the presence of cigaret smoke EVERYWHERE, that we didn't notice it.
Now that smoking is not done in most public places, it's very noticeable.
If you want to know what it was like back then, check out the films from the 1952 Republican Convention. It was the first US convention covered by TV. I think it was in Madison Square Garden. There are about 10,000 people there ALL smoking chimneys. There must have been cigaret ashes like snow drifts to sweep up.
Ooops. This almost sounded like an anti smoking rant. Sorry.
Anyway, it doesn't look terribly glamorous.

I smoke too and i totally agree with what your saying, i'm concious that i probably reek to high heaven when i'm with non-smokers, so there is always lots of frenzied handwashing and scent spraying and i always air my clothes before bed, but alas, i am an addict, and actually i do like a cigarette. I shouldn't say it but i savour my post dinner cigarette and the cigarette i have with my mid morning coffee. I rarely smoke tailor mades though, i prefer to roll my own and carry them around in a deco cigarette case, which makes me feel slightly more glamorous when i'm lighting up outside work, after all if i'm going to kill myself i might as well do it with some style, as flippant as that may sound. It is an affliction i guess and i do feel ashamed as we are made to feel like social pariahs these days, (perhaps rightly so), but i do get cross as it seems that people who drink irresponsibly and who are doing as much damage to themselves as us smokers, don't seem to get the same level of abuse directed at them. Sorry if that was a bit of a rant as well, but i get some negative comment at least once a day from people passing by when i am outside my shop, discreetly smoking round the corner and it really makes my blood boil!

 

[Edward]

I think the reason smoking is looked down upon to a greater degree than drinking, in the main, is the perception that while you can drink in moderation and it does you no harm, there's no such thing as smoking in moderation. In reality, of course, it's not that clear cut. I, as others here, don't consider myself a 'smoker' as I'd never touch a cigarette, but on the other hand I have a few cigars in the year (now shifted over to the pipe), and as infrequently as I do it it will have no negative effect on my health. I do also notice that cigarettes carry a negative social stigma that pipes and cigars generally do not. Perhaps partly the perception of them as an occasional luxury carries on, not so for cigarettes? Of course, there's also the passive smoking thing, which I think is part of it too (and rightly so - I'm more than happy to go outside), but oddly people don't seem to so readily associate that with a pipe as they do a ciggie.... [huh]

 

[Miss sofia]

Your absolutely right, it's the negative social stigma that is attached to smoking whereas cigars and pipes are seen as an occasional luxury and therefore for the most part people seem to be fine with it . I agree with that principle, as do i with the whole passive smoking issue, i don't smoke indoors and i am always respectful if i visit non-smokers homes, i usually refrain from smoking at all if i can help it. I think the point about moderate drinking was very valid but i still think smokers are treated like second class citizens, and i just get fed up of people having a pop at me all the time in public, when i am being as discreet and respectful of the non-smokers around me and don't feel i'm afforded the same respect. Perhaps i should just smoke five cheroots a day instead!

 

[DAJE]

I think the point about moderate drinking was very valid but i still think smokers are treated like second class citizens, and i just get fed up of people having a pop at me all the time in public, when i am being as discreet and respectful of the non-smokers around me and don't feel i'm afforded the same respect. Perhaps i should just smoke five cheroots a day instead!

Oh, you're very right about that. The thing is, in any society there are people that are easy targets, and smokers are in that category now. There will always be a subset of humanity who are simply looking for someone to attack.

People like that will overreact and get hysterical about tobacco smoking as if you were sprinkling radioactive asbestos around the place, out of all proportion to the actual level of potential harm a cigarette, or even a whole pack of them, could cause. It's because some people just really get off on freaking out in a self-righteous way. If they weren't attacking smokers they'd have to find someone else to attack. They don't really give a damn about your health, and only the most paranoid are actually concerned for their own health, it's usually just an excuse for a hissy fit.

I'm in the process of giving up, and I'm doing fairly well, supplementing my intake with nicotine lozenges. It's extremely difficult for me, and I'm making progress because I'm seeing it as a long-term process. If I smoke a cigarette, I haven't failed, just had a setback, and I'm finding that attitude - not being hard on myself for failing, acknowledging it as something that will take a lot of time and effort on my part, is really helpful.

If a crazed nicotine junkie like me can stop, then it's possible for others too. For some of us, it is incredibly difficult, but that doesn't make us bad people, or weak people, or failures as human beings. People are individuals, we're different, and we react to the same chemicals in different ways. Some people's brains are simply pre-disposed for nicotine addiction: it is not a moral failing, just a fact of differing brain chemistry. Being a smoker most definitley does not give any non-smoker the right to abuse you or to freak out at you or to belittle you in any way.

So, my message to anti-smokers here: please refrain from the abuse. If you're actually concerned for someone's health, be supportive, not abusive. The abuse does not help. All it does is reinforce the smoker's negative feelings about themselves: it makes them more likely to keep on smoking, and to keep on feeling the need to smoke. If you can't say anything positive and helpful, then don't say anything at all.

 

[cycle1667]

The only woman I've ever explicitly thought looked good smoking was Anne Bancroft. Now that she's no longer with us I generally can't think of anyone else... I wonder if Dorothy Dandridge smoked...

L_H

Lauren Bacall in To Have and Have Not, You know how to whistle don't you...?
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5.11 Tactical