Ethan lent me his Jack Benny DVDs. Jack Benny had a comedy show in the 40s. It was heavily sponsored/produced by Lucky Strike cigarettes. The opening title even says, “The Lucky Strike Show, starring Jack Benny”. I guess it would be like “The Jello Pudding Pop show, starring Bill Cosby”. Anyway, it’s odd to see TV commercials talking about all the virtues of their cigarettes without a care in the world. The basis of one of the skits is Jack trying to renew his contract with the American Tobacco Company. A friend pointed out that the US military included cigarettes in soldiers’ rations during World War II.
That’s a bit like the rum that the British Royal Navy gave sailors in the 1700s as their main drink.