# Cigarette brands that used to be popular, but which are now rare or nonexistent **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 14, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933 "2009-07-14T02:32:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/81 "2009-07-20T21:25:26Z")
Back before 1920 or so, Turkish or Arabic themed cigs (implying imported Turkish tobacco) were very popular. Two well known brands were Fatima and Murad. I don’t know how long they lasted. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/82 "2009-07-20T21:29:46Z")
Can you still buy "Horsesh\*t " cigs in Tiajuana? They were sold as a tourist item; I don’t know anyone who ever smoked them. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/83 "2009-07-20T22:27:45Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > As an aside, I recall when I was stationed in Germany in the early 1990’s that there was a distinct difference in flavor between American Marlboros and German ones. The German ones tasted like shit, and strangely only had 19 per pack instead of the usual 20. > > They even had cigarette machines on street corners there, which I thought interesting. > > Not surprisingly, there was a pretty big black market for American Marlboros. There were always a few guys running around the barracks getting their non-smoking buddies to hand over their ration cards so they could buy cartons to resell to Germans. IIRC the ration card stipulated four cartons a month. It also restricted the amount of alcohol, coffee, tea and solubles you could buy, although I think the alcohol part of it was only for hard liquour. > > A carton of cigs was $6.75 at the PX then, and according to these guys they would get about 35-40 dm per carton for them, which at the time was right about $20 USD. Cigarette machines used to be very common in America, too, until the gummint started really cracking down on underage smoking. The machines used to be in all kinds of places where a kid could put a coin or two into the machine and get a pack of cancer, without interacting with an adult in any way. When I was in middle school/junior high, this was how I bought a couple of packs of ciggies, in a Denny’s restaurant machine. My husband was stationed in Spain in the late 70s, and when I married him, I got a ration card. As I remember, it didn’t restrict the amount of local alcohol and tobacco and gas you could buy, just the amount you could buy on base. The stuff on base was much, much cheaper, of course. Plus in the case of alcohol and tobacco, they were American brands, and familiar with the personnel. I was told, several times, that I should buy up my allotment of whatever, and sell it on the black market for whatever it would bring. I never did. I do remember that the favored brand of cigarettes was Winston, with Marlboro running a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/84 "2009-07-20T23:56:10Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Can you still buy "Horsesh\*t " cigs in Tiajuana? They were sold as a tourist item; I don’t know anyone who ever smoked them. I smoked one once. They’re aptly named. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/85 "2009-07-21T00:30:12Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Cigarette machines used to be very common in America, too, until the gummint started really cracking down on underage smoking. The machines used to be in all kinds of places where a kid could put a coin or two into the machine and get a pack of cancer, without interacting with an adult in any way. When I was in middle school/junior high, this was how I bought a couple of packs of ciggies, in a Denny’s restaurant machine. > > My husband was stationed in Spain in the late 70s, and when I married him, I got a ration card. As I remember, it didn’t restrict the amount of local alcohol and tobacco and gas you could buy, just the amount you could buy on base. The stuff on base was much, much cheaper, of course. Plus in the case of alcohol and tobacco, they were American brands, and familiar with the personnel. I was told, several times, that I should buy up my allotment of whatever, and sell it on the black market for whatever it would bring. I never did. I do remember that the favored brand of cigarettes was Winston, with Marlboro running a close second. Oh, I know that cigarette machines were prevalent inside establishments in the USA up until about the late 1980’s, it was seeing these machines on a street corner that I thought was unusual. Kinda like the whole wonderful German beer system…beers sold in milk-crate like racks of 20, return the rack and bottles for your next purchase, receive a discount. Very nice. ---
**Author:** ![C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@C.Montgomery\_Burns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C.Montgomery_Burns)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/86 "2009-07-21T02:12:13Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > Back before 1920 or so, Turkish or Arabic themed cigs (implying imported Turkish tobacco) were very popular. Two well known brands were Fatima and Murad. I don’t know how long they lasted. Fatima sponsored Dragnet on radio, so it at least lasted into the late 40’s. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/87 "2009-07-21T15:41:36Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > Cigarette machines used to be very common in America, too, until the gummint started really cracking down on underage smoking. The machines used to be in all kinds of places where a kid could put a coin or two into the machine and get a pack of cancer, without interacting with an adult in any way. When I was in middle school/junior high, this was how I bought a couple of packs of ciggies, in a Denny’s restaurant machine. > > My husband was stationed in Spain in the late 70s, and when I married him, I got a ration card. As I remember, it didn’t restrict the amount of local alcohol and tobacco and gas you could buy, just the amount you could buy on base. The stuff on base was much, much cheaper, of course. Plus in the case of alcohol and tobacco, they were American brands, and familiar with the personnel. I was told, several times, that I should buy up my allotment of whatever, and sell it on the black market for whatever it would bring. I never did. I do remember that the favored brand of cigarettes was Winston, with Marlboro running a close second. The hospital I worked in in the 80s actually had a cigarette machine on the patient floor–we smoked at the nursing station until the late 80s!:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/88 "2009-07-21T19:23:30Z")
Sure, the nurses and doctors used to smoke. And the patients used to smoke, too, in the wards, and if you complained you were a wuss, unless you were actually attached to an oxygen tank at the time. Then you were a killjoy, because nobody could smoke around you. My husband had to have a pilonidal cyst removed when he was still a smoker. This was after the patient rooms had gone smoke-free, all of them. So, he decided that he NEEDED a smoke after he woke up fully. He teetered his way down to the patient lounge, leaned against a wall (it’s impossible to sit down after this surgery), lit up, and passed out from the pain. He spent a couple of days in the hospital, and then spent quite a while recovering at home, bitching that I wouldn’t fetch his precious ciggies for him. He wouldn’t have wanted them anyway, as I used to LOAD his ciggies, one or two to a pack, if I got my hands on them. ---
**Author:** ![mjack123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@mjack123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjack123)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/89 "2010-08-30T20:01:14Z")
Kent, Tareyton, Lark, True and Old Golds are all still around, but hardly anyone smokes them anymore. Most places no longer stock these brands, and you really have to search for them. There are two convenience stores in my area that have the “full rack” cigarette selection, which means pretty much every brand still on the market and I’ve seen the above brands on the racks, but most stores now only stock the most popular brands such as Marlboro, Camel, etc. Benson & Hedges was a popular brand in the 1980s but it’s another brand you hardly see anymore. A lot of women smoked these back then, but if they didn’t quit they went to Marlboro Lights. Parliaments are very popular and you can find them anywhere. In my area, they’re second only to Marlboro Lights in popularity among younger smokers. Pall Mall and L&M are now “budget brands” and they both taste terrible. Personally, every smoker I know (and there are a lot) only smoke the following: Marlboro, Camel, Parliament, American Spirits and (ugh!) Newport. I think the only remaining customers for those old-school brands are a very small group of older people. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/90 "2010-08-30T20:16:10Z")
**Oasis** used to be advertised on “Twilight Zone” **Laredo** was a make-it-yourself brand. They sold you tobacco and pre-gummed and pre-rolled papers. You put the tobacco in a sort of gun-like thing and you could “inject” it into the cigarette paper. Apparently a lot of people use it for non-tobacco products, too. There was another brand with a “water” filter, but I can’t recall the name – you rolled the filter between your fingers to crush the micro-encapsulated water. It was supposed to invoke the idea of a hookah, which was pictured (in stylized form) on the label. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/91 "2010-08-31T01:23:23Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > What happened to More cigarettes? They were the extra long cigarettes. I last saw them around 1990. 120mms and brown paper with darker speckles, green pack for menthol and red for plain. Everywhere when I lived in NJ, harder to find, now, in central PA. (When I was vending at Renfaires folks would always try to bum one off me thinking I was smoking “cloves”.) I’m smoking one now! CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Beerman1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Beerman1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beerman1963)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/92 "2010-08-31T01:52:48Z")
we decided that we would have soda… Also the tarrytoons… remember the stickers? seems like there was a stink over the women having black eyes in the ads ---
**Author:** ![Beerman1963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2acd7d/32.png) [@Beerman1963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beerman1963)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/93 "2010-08-31T02:06:45Z")
Dang it missed the edit window. I was gonna say Nat Shermans(popular with the hip high schoolers circa 1982) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/94 "2010-08-31T03:49:40Z")
Old Gold is still around? That came up in the very first episode of Mad Men and my parents were all “Oh, remember Old Gold?” and the boyfriend and I were all “Say what the fuck?” Only not, because one would not say “fuck” in front of my parents. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/95 "2010-08-31T04:12:06Z")
I remember my mother smoking Craven A, and some other brand with a black cat. It was probably called something like Black Cat. 🙂 But this would have been in the early or mid 70s, and memory is hazy. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/96 "2010-08-31T04:37:02Z")
> [@Beerman1963](#): > > Dang it missed the edit window. > I was gonna say Nat Shermans(popular with the hip high schoolers circa 1982) Bzzzzt, wrong. Nat Shermans are still a widely available brand; they’ve even got prominent counter-top promo displays at several convenience stores in my area of the southern U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/97 "2010-08-31T11:11:31Z")
Peter Stuyvesant, Rothmans, John Player Specials (remember the JPS motor racing team?) and a heap of others that may be local to Aus/NZ like Winfield. I smoked Peter Stuyvesants about 30 odd years ago and still remember the advertisements at the movie theatres. “Peter Stuyvesant, the international passport to smoking pleasure.” Sobranies, the cocktail cigs with coloured paper. It seems they are still sold in the UK but I haven’t seen them here for ages. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/98 "2010-08-31T11:29:41Z")
Ardath Cork Tipped. And there was an especially vile brand of tobacco (roll your own) called “Rotterdam Shag”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/99 "2010-08-31T13:46:22Z")
I remember my mother giving me a quarter torun to the corner drugstore and buy her Wings. The ciggies were 20 cents and I got an ice cream for a nickel. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933/100 "2010-08-31T14:50:49Z")
When I worked at a grocery store in the 90’s I liked to purchase, along with my usual brand, one of the many other brands of cigarettes just for fun. We had a lot of the ones mentioned: Tareyton, Kent, Viceroy, True, Lark, Benson & Hedges, More, Lucky Strike (why does everyone think these are rare?), GPC, Doral, Basic, etc. along with the Camel, Winston, Marlboro, etc. Now when I go visit my old store the case is dominated with a dozen different varieties of Camel and Marlboro, and one lonely row of assorted others (Parliament, Winston, Newport, Kool, Spirits). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cigarette-brands-that-used-to-be-popular-but-which-are-now-rare-or-nonexistent/502933.md?page=6)