Looking Back: Who was ever alone with Strand?

He was only one of scores of Hollywood stars who endorsed smoking through the golden years of the cinema in the1930s through to the 1960s. Smoking seemed to be such a glamorous and exciting thing to do and we wanted to emulate our heroes from the silver screen.

One of the most popular cigarettes of the past was Chesterfield. Named after Chesterfield County, Virginia, it had one of the most extensive publicity campaigns of all time. It appeared in television series and sponsored high profile campaigns for Formula 1 racing. Those endorsing the brand on our cinema screens included the biggest Hollywood stars of the time to include Bing Crosby, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Garry Cooper and Ronald Reagan, later to become President of the United States. Here, Princess Margaret was hardly ever seen without her favourite Chesterfields. The iconic athlete Jesse Owens who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games endorsed the brand, only to die of lung cancer in 1980. The brand was largely discontinued in America from the 2000s.

Also popular in America where it was said to be synonymous with Americas image of its men as tough, self-sufficient and hardworking was Marlborough and the Marlborough man. The adverts beginning in the 1950s featured many ruggedly handsome men often cowboys or lumberjacks, complete with Marlborough in hand. Unfortunately many of them also died of lung cancer.

An unforgettable image from the end of the 1950s was the lonely Frank Sinatra look alike in a dark evening in London reflectively puffing on a cigarette. The theme music was hauntingly beautiful and did well in the record charts. However, you might not have ever been ‘Alone with a Strand’ but the adverts became associated with loneliness and were withdrawn after a few years.

No longer is cigarette smoking considered acceptable and hopefully vaping will go the same way! But memories of the advertising lives on!