Lone Wolf Concerto: smoking

The far side of fifty
and he still doesn't inhale

Gotta light?
Secondhand smoke irks the hell out of me. If you blow your used, stale, putrid smoke in my direction, I'll deck you. Stay inside and blow it on yourself.

I don't smoke now, but there was a time when I thought smoking was hot and tough. And sexy. I was a faux smoker for years. I smoked but seldom inhaled. Sounds like bull but it's the gospel truth. I assumed the image but didn't exactly partake.

I started smoking when I was sixteen. It was sinfully easy to get a pack of smokes back then because cigarette machines were everywhere. Fifty cents a pack.

My favorite cigs were Cools. Loved them. Later, I advanced to Krakatoa and Shermans. Krakatoas were made with cloves. Shermans looked chic and unique (they came in colors) - - but they smelled lousy.

Nowadays Big Brother is watching your ass and you have to get a written consent form from God before you can buy a pack of cigarettes. And you have to smoke fifty miles away from Earth. What does a pack cost nowadays, ten bucks? Hell if I know.

Whether you like smoking or not, I prefer the good old days, when having a smoke wasn't a sin and the Commie Bureaucrats weren't eroding our freedom. That will probably freak some sensitive people, but political incorrectness is one of my specialties.

Let's cut through the smoke and get to the crux of the matter. I dug through my photo files and found pictures of celebrities with cigs. I had initially planned to post them on my photo blog Cabinet of Curious Treasures.
Since I have so many smoke photos, however, I've decided to post some here and others over there.

Grab your lighters and ashtrays. Here we go.

Few people know that Shirley Temple was a heavy smoker from an early age. She tried to be discreet because of her fans, but occasionally photographers caught her indulging in her nicotine habit.

Jackie Kennedy Onassis was another heavy smoker who tried to keep her habit away from public scrutiny. She was known to smoke three packs a day. Here's a photo of her puffing in 1954.

JFK
Smug and Smokey

It was no secret that Bette Davis smoked. In fact, she smoked until she croaked. She doesn't look too fond of the kitty in this photo.
Come to think of it, the kitty doesn't look too pleased, either.

1920's
Gloria Swanson, looking pretty cool with a cigarette.
"I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille."
(if you haven't seen the film Sunset Boulevard, you won't know what I'm talking about)

1920's
Smoke and Rudolf Valentino
This is one of my favorite photos of Rudy.
He made one film with Gloria Swanson, Beyond the Rocks (1921). Smoking had nothing to do with it.

Gary Cooper
young, hung, and tobacco-prone

Humphrey Bogart
almost unrecognizable in this early Hollywood shot. A life-time heavy smoker who succumbed to throat cancer.

Lauren Bacall
another heavy smoker - - that's why her voice eventually sounded just like Bogart's.

Hedy Lamarr
Heck, some stars were just too beautiful to be seen in the company of a cigarette......

Martha Raye
not exactly beautiful, but I love this photo

Cary Grant
a smoke and an attitude

Here's a rare photo of Elizabeth Taylor.
Blonde and smoking.

Montgomery Clift
Liz Taylor fell in love with him while they were filming A Place in the Sun (1951) Too bad he was gay. (heck, we all fell in love with Monty....)