# The Patterns Printed on Cigarette Filters - Why?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 6, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587 "2003-07-06T16:57:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587/1 "2003-07-06T16:57:59Z")

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I mean the piece of paper that is wrapped around the filter on many brands of cigarettes - usually tan with yellow spots. Possibly it represents something that was part of a cigarette when they were made in the 19th century?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587/2 "2003-07-06T17:23:19Z")

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It is supposed to look like cork, which was used as a tip on cigarettes in the 30’s. [Viceroy cigarettes were the first brand with a cork tip in 1936](http://www.brownandwilliamson.com/index_sub2.cfm?Page=/BWT/Index.cfm%3FID%3D113%26Sect%3D3). Today, the [tipping paper](http://www.philipmorrisinternational.com/pages/eng/smoking/Non_t_materials.asp) is printed with the familiar mottled pattern to simulate the appearance of a cork tip.

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**Author:** ![LSD-25](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d78d45/32.png) [@LSD-25](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSD-25)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587/3 "2003-07-06T17:34:52Z")

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It’s crossed my mind that tipping paper looks a bit like cork but I thought that a cork tip would have blocked the end, obviously not. Thanks for clearing that up.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587/4 "2003-07-06T17:48:16Z")

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Having never actually smoked a cork-tipped cigarette, I am not certain, but I don’t think the cork was supposed to be a filter. It was more like a mouthpiece, with a hole in it, that kept the lips off the tobacco so as to stay cool even when you got down to that last satisfying puff.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-patterns-printed-on-cigarette-filters-why/186587/5 "2003-07-07T03:27:46Z")

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Am I the only one here that hasn’t thought cigarette makers should make a line for women with red tips to conceal the lipstick that gets left on them?