"A Pack of Lucky's"

It isn't the sound of finger snapping, but it was close to that and very distinct. Just as the lid snaps open, another flick and the wheel spins, the spark ignites and the flames leap from the wick. It was one of the things you could count on then. A thick malt at the Albert Lea Creamery on the North Side and Johnny's Zippo lighter working on the very first try. I believe this would be the summer of 1956. Welcome to a memory.

He pulls what seems like a brand new Lucky from behind his ear. I never saw him actually put one there, yet it always seems like one was available. He drops it into the corner of his lip, points it at the flame, and takes a long hard drag. The tip of his tongue gathers in the small strand of tobacco from the loosely packed Lucky and carefully spits it out, while exhaling a steady stream of smoke.

Johnny carried his Lucky's rolled in the sleeve of his white Tee shirt. We all tried to carry ours there, but they didn't look the same. Our packs usually were scrunched up. His always seemed fresh and new. Lucky's if you can remember were the loosest packed cigarette except for Winstons. When you bought a new pack you would have to smack them against the heel of your hand to get all the tobacco to the one end. Unlike a Winston, that just bent at the filter, the tobacco would actually fall out of a Lucky and if it was old enough you would have to twist the end up. This would later look like another kind of smoke.

Of course you never got to mooch any smokes off Johnny. He would tell you to go to the same place Pastor Knutson said you were going to every time he caught you smoking. Besides that Johnny only gave cigarettes to Gloria and we knew why. Gloria was " Really Hot ". Long dark brown hair and a figure that wouldn't quit. Gloria was always parked no further than an arms length away from him and wearing his leather jacket that looked even better on her than it did on him. At least to me it looked better.

Johnny would tell you to just go buy your own. Most of the time that was possible. It was well known, that old lady Gerden would always sell you a pack. It was sort of a ritual. You would walk into Gerden's School Supply, Keeping your eyes on the counter, lay down a quarter and say "A Pack of Lucky's". The quarter would disappear, and a new pack of Lucky's with a book of matches on top would come out from under the counter. I believe that more cigarettes, gum and bags of chips were ever sold at Gerdens's than any school supplies.

There were never any thank you's or how are you conversations. It was like a ritual and if performed correctly, would guarantee results every time. A pack Lucky's, a pack of gum and chips could run you as much as 35-40 cents. This just so happened to be the same amount as a hot lunch at school. Do you suppose that is why everyone thought that smoking is why they stayed skinny?

It was not only what you smoked, but how you smoked it. It started with how your cigarette is held. Most of the time the cigarette was pinched between the thumb and first finger. The lit end was facing your palm. This was called cupping. It was used to hide your cigarette. Just in case a teacher, your folks, Pastor K or a neighbor should drive by. The ash was not visible and if they started towards you, a casual placement of your hand behind your back and dropping the cigarette could be done with no one the wiser ( we thought). I know it did not work very well as my dad sure gave me a few whoopins because some one saw me.

The next trick was moochin a drag off some one. You had to be good at taking a drag off someone else's cigarette. If you returned it all wet on the end (blankety blanked). you would get razzed for days.

The last and final trick is how you would transfer it to your thumb and middle finger to flick it away just to make sure you looked cool. I won't even talk about "French Inhaling". I start coughing just thinking about it. What about Sen-Sen?That little black tablet that was supposed to remove the tell tale signs of smoking, but in reality gave your breath the scent of Camel Dung and was the tell tale sign you had been smoking

Today they say it has always been peer pressure that made you start. I can't let myself off that easy. I don't believe that we knew what the word peer was at that time. I just thought smoking was cool and maybe I would get a girl like Gloria to wear my jacket or "something". All I know is that from 1955 til 1998 I smoked Lucky's or Camel Non Filters.

Did you know that some sales people for a while called them Camel shorts as they thought they were just a short filtered cigarette. I cannot tell you to not smoke as I have no right to do that. I smoked for to many years. All I can say is that I quit in April of 1998 after 43 years, and for me that was just great. I have "My Gloria" and I don't have to be cool anymore.

Even though today, they don't say "I would walk a mile for a Camel" or "Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco", it is still fun to remember when! Of course they took away our white Tee shirts with sleeves and they made us wear black muscle shirts with pink edging around the neck and arms. How macho was that? The start of the Male Softer side?

I'll be back with more tales of the 50's if you want to join me.

Later !