Any "older" members still recall the time when smoking was acceptable indoors?
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I was born during a time when smoking was just a fact of life and everyone accepted it as such. If the ANTZ were actually correct about second hand smoke then there is no way my 6 siblings and I should be alive today. My youngest sibling is 56, the oldest is 69. Mom and Dad both smoked anywhere and everywhere. Even in the car 
with all of us in there with them. I can't remember it ever bothering me in any way. Times have certainly changed and in my personal opinion not all change is good. I am pleased with indoor plumbing and electric lights so some is good. 
I once asked my Granny to tell me about the good ol' days and she told me "These are the good ol' days" but that was over 40 years ago. I'm not so sure I would get the same answer from her today.
with all of us in there with them. I can't remember it ever bothering me in any way. Times have certainly changed and in my personal opinion not all change is good. I am pleased with indoor plumbing and electric lights so some is good. I once asked my Granny to tell me about the good ol' days and she told me "These are the good ol' days" but that was over 40 years ago. I'm not so sure I would get the same answer from her today.
Nobody has mentioned how the taste of cigarettes declined as the years went on? As paper started being washed with tobacco byproduct (this tobacco washed paper was called scrim) from light cigarette manufacturing the flavor went down hill fast. Then came the Ammonia which made them more addictive and tasted even worse.
I hated cigarettes by the time I finally quit and remember my first vape that tasted more like a cigarette of memory than the one I had in my hand at the time.
Older than I am but still playing on Netflix and they're smokin everywhere.
I hated cigarettes by the time I finally quit and remember my first vape that tasted more like a cigarette of memory than the one I had in my hand at the time.
Older than I am but still playing on Netflix and they're smokin everywhere.
I am not that old. Mid 30's. When I was a teenager in the mid 90's I worked at a large department store as a clerk. On our breaks, we would go into the back lounge (inside) and smoke it up (even though most of us were under 18). The HR manager had an office next door and she always had a cig hanging out of her mouth during work.
When I was in elementary school in the late 80's, the teachers had a lounge where they would smoke. You could smell it a mile away.
When I went to the local mall as a kid, the old men would sit on the benches smoking their pipes. Smelled so good. One of my favorite things about going.
It seems it wasn't until the mid 90's (at least in my area) that smoking started being banned in individual establishments (stores, etc.). It wasn't until the early 2000's when they passed a city ordinance here outlawing it everywhere except places that sell alcohol (i.e. bars). Can't smoke in restaurants anymore. I don't know of any outdoor bans around here, though. This ain't California or New York where the health nuts have gone crazy.
When I was in elementary school in the late 80's, the teachers had a lounge where they would smoke. You could smell it a mile away.
When I went to the local mall as a kid, the old men would sit on the benches smoking their pipes. Smelled so good. One of my favorite things about going.
It seems it wasn't until the mid 90's (at least in my area) that smoking started being banned in individual establishments (stores, etc.). It wasn't until the early 2000's when they passed a city ordinance here outlawing it everywhere except places that sell alcohol (i.e. bars). Can't smoke in restaurants anymore. I don't know of any outdoor bans around here, though. This ain't California or New York where the health nuts have gone crazy.
Alien (1979); some of the characters were smoking inside the spaceship!
Aliens (1986): Ripley is smoking in her apartment towards the beginning of the movie... well, she had a cigarette burning on it's own between her fingers anyways. The Captain has a half-smoked cigar in his mouth (or hand) in just about every single scene before they touch ground.
Alien 3 (1992): Ripley lights one up (sometime after she learned she had an alien in her stomach) and the doctor tells her "those things will kill you" to which she responds "nothing can stop that now" (or something along those lines)
Alien 4 (alien Resurrection): One character lights a cigarette and Ripley (cloned) tells him: "You know those things will kill ya, right?"
The Fifth Element (1997): Korben Dallas is on a quit smoking program in which he gets a daily allocation of 3 cigarettes per day. The radio animator Ruby Rhod is smoking when he enters the space shuttle live on the radio. Cigarettes in that movie are about 3 inches of filter and 1.5 inch of tobacco, but it's the fact that Korben still has one match on him that saves the day... in part at least.
Those scenes say a lot about how much it was still inconceivable that smoking could disappear in less than a century.
The Lord of the Rings -The fellowship of the ring movie (2001): Peter Jackson was somewhat nervous about including a scene with Gandalf and Bilbo smoking the pipe and doing smoke tricks. The production house reviewers didn't say a work.
Things changed fast in the late 90's and the first half of the 00's (can we even say it like that?)
Aliens (1986): Ripley is smoking in her apartment towards the beginning of the movie... well, she had a cigarette burning on it's own between her fingers anyways. The Captain has a half-smoked cigar in his mouth (or hand) in just about every single scene before they touch ground.
Alien 3 (1992): Ripley lights one up (sometime after she learned she had an alien in her stomach) and the doctor tells her "those things will kill you" to which she responds "nothing can stop that now" (or something along those lines)
Alien 4 (alien Resurrection): One character lights a cigarette and Ripley (cloned) tells him: "You know those things will kill ya, right?"
The Fifth Element (1997): Korben Dallas is on a quit smoking program in which he gets a daily allocation of 3 cigarettes per day. The radio animator Ruby Rhod is smoking when he enters the space shuttle live on the radio. Cigarettes in that movie are about 3 inches of filter and 1.5 inch of tobacco, but it's the fact that Korben still has one match on him that saves the day... in part at least.
Those scenes say a lot about how much it was still inconceivable that smoking could disappear in less than a century.
The Lord of the Rings -The fellowship of the ring movie (2001): Peter Jackson was somewhat nervous about including a scene with Gandalf and Bilbo smoking the pipe and doing smoke tricks. The production house reviewers didn't say a work.
Things changed fast in the late 90's and the first half of the 00's (can we even say it like that?
)
I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread (it's taken me hours to read it all) and everytime I think I've got to the end ... there's another page or 3 to go! 
Well done to all involved and keep posting the memories ...
Well done to all involved and keep posting the memories ...
The thing I recall most is how smokers could essentially count on being able to smoke in another person's house. I don't go that far back, but do recall in the 1970's that it wasn't really an issue to be smoking in a non-smoker's house. I'm sure there were exceptions here, but the norm seemed to be that a non-smoker would allow this, understanding social norms and/or not having hangups around smoking. Nowadays, including all smokers I currently know, I know of only one person that allows smoking in their house, and that person only allows it in their (refinished) basement, and is a non cigarette smoker (smokes cigars occasionally).
It's challenging for me to write on this topic and not bring politics into it. The change in allowing smoking in a home isn't government related, but a whole bunch of private owners making the decision that seems heavily influenced by ANTZ rhetoric. Then again, when doing search on this thread on the word 'home' I do realize that most home owners rather not spend thousands of dollars on refinishing an area (or two) of their house because of what smoking can do to an environment. Still, it seems very odd to go from situation where non-smokers used to routinely allows smoking in their home to the current reality where PAD smokers, who own their house, will not allow anyone to smoke in their house. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but I seriously know of no smokers that allow smoking in their house. This really does boggle my mind when I consider it for more than 2 minutes, as it's hard to understand why it is working the way it has. Makes me think the war against anything domestic ought to be way further along by now if smokers can be convinced to not smoke in their own home, especially after a history of non-smokers allowing smoking in their homes.
Apart from this, I do recall first job I had after college allowing smoking in their cafeteria and other parts of the building (and used to be all parts of the building, before I got there). I recall smoking in that cafeteria. Then I went cold turkey (for many years) but still worked there and recall it being designated to one room only, then to the outside deck only, and then nowhere on the block of that building. Now, I think there's a fine for those who smoke on the same planet as this building.
I also recall smoking in hospital waiting rooms, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and most restaurants.
And finally, I recall when I went cold turkey, allowing smokers to smoke in designated area of my (former) house and not having issue with that as long as those evil smokers stayed in the designated area. Kinda helped that this room did, intentionally, have a fan to ventilate air in that room out of the house.
It's challenging for me to write on this topic and not bring politics into it. The change in allowing smoking in a home isn't government related, but a whole bunch of private owners making the decision that seems heavily influenced by ANTZ rhetoric. Then again, when doing search on this thread on the word 'home' I do realize that most home owners rather not spend thousands of dollars on refinishing an area (or two) of their house because of what smoking can do to an environment. Still, it seems very odd to go from situation where non-smokers used to routinely allows smoking in their home to the current reality where PAD smokers, who own their house, will not allow anyone to smoke in their house. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but I seriously know of no smokers that allow smoking in their house. This really does boggle my mind when I consider it for more than 2 minutes, as it's hard to understand why it is working the way it has. Makes me think the war against anything domestic ought to be way further along by now if smokers can be convinced to not smoke in their own home, especially after a history of non-smokers allowing smoking in their homes.
Apart from this, I do recall first job I had after college allowing smoking in their cafeteria and other parts of the building (and used to be all parts of the building, before I got there). I recall smoking in that cafeteria. Then I went cold turkey (for many years) but still worked there and recall it being designated to one room only, then to the outside deck only, and then nowhere on the block of that building. Now, I think there's a fine for those who smoke on the same planet as this building.
I also recall smoking in hospital waiting rooms, movie theaters, bowling alleys, and most restaurants.
And finally, I recall when I went cold turkey, allowing smokers to smoke in designated area of my (former) house and not having issue with that as long as those evil smokers stayed in the designated area. Kinda helped that this room did, intentionally, have a fan to ventilate air in that room out of the house.
I posted this before but at the Huddle House downtown here in Alabama, you can smoke at the bar or any booth in the place. They have plenty of ash trays. Nobody ever complains I guess because they have an excellent air system.
I'm 54 years old and I remember when most people smoked just about everywhere in public. My mom and dad did not smoke, but when company came over, my mom would always pull out her stash of ashtrays for everyone to use. When I was a little boy, I used to love going out to a restaurant to eat just so we could go in the bar and wait for our table. I loved the smell of the smoke filled bar.
Jman - "Open concept" floor plans and central, forced air heating / AC are not odour friendly.
I'll own up to being one of those ex smokers who don't allow any smoking in their house.
My poor (non smoking) Husband can finally live in a smoke free environment after putting up with me puffing away on cigs for 30+ years. Plus we don't have to decorate as frequently, yellow ceilings and walls are a thing of the past (that was always so embarrassing seeing all that crud and it was all because of my habit).
I also can't stand the smell of cigs anymore.
My poor (non smoking) Husband can finally live in a smoke free environment after putting up with me puffing away on cigs for 30+ years. Plus we don't have to decorate as frequently, yellow ceilings and walls are a thing of the past (that was always so embarrassing seeing all that crud and it was all because of my habit).
I also can't stand the smell of cigs anymore.
Texas has no state-wide bans, but many cities here do.
I remember when one of the first cities in DFW (Dallas I think?) passed a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, a smart tv reporter filmed a busy bar on the Friday night before the ban, then filmed again on the Friday night after the ban. The bar was packed before the ban, nearly empty after the ban. This same reporter interviewed some of the people in the bar before the ban and they all said the same thing - they would just go to a bar in another town after the ban. Most cities now allow smoking in bars if they have (expensive) air filtering equipment. Some that passed an all-out ban ended up modifying the ban to allow this after realizing they were going to lose business (and tax money) to neighboring towns that allowed smoking.
I also remember around this time a non-smoking friend of mine told me she always hung out with smokers because non-smokers were boring LOL
I remember when one of the first cities in DFW (Dallas I think?) passed a smoking ban in bars and restaurants, a smart tv reporter filmed a busy bar on the Friday night before the ban, then filmed again on the Friday night after the ban. The bar was packed before the ban, nearly empty after the ban. This same reporter interviewed some of the people in the bar before the ban and they all said the same thing - they would just go to a bar in another town after the ban. Most cities now allow smoking in bars if they have (expensive) air filtering equipment. Some that passed an all-out ban ended up modifying the ban to allow this after realizing they were going to lose business (and tax money) to neighboring towns that allowed smoking.
I also remember around this time a non-smoking friend of mine told me she always hung out with smokers because non-smokers were boring LOL
It's a little bit more general and practically a truism - people willing to engage in various pleasurable activities are less boring than those that are not.
Smoked on airplanes in the late 80's - Had to request smoking seat though.
Smoked everywhere else just as everyone else did, through the airports, stores.
I even smoked in high school, we had a designated smoking court that was outside in an enclosed court and covered, and could smoke anywhere else outside the building. Seniors could smoke in the seniors lounge.
Smoked everywhere else just as everyone else did, through the airports, stores.
I even smoked in high school, we had a designated smoking court that was outside in an enclosed court and covered, and could smoke anywhere else outside the building. Seniors could smoke in the seniors lounge.
This could be me.
I started smoking in the early 70s. In addition to situations similar to the above post, I remember smoking at work. One of the more vivid memories (to me it now seems surreal or a scene out of "Mad Men") is the daily meeting with all of upper level management to update the status of the day's production at our facility. The plant manager, production manager, quality manager, general foremen, and line supervisors all gathered around an oval conference table with the majority of us smoking and a haze in the air.
Just found this ... and it's all true!
Being a child in the 60s and70s was awesome!
First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
I remember sometime around 10 to 12 years ago, when I was working at the race track (horse racing that is). We had some time to waste before the local races started and were talking with one of the supervisor. I was about 30, my colleague 40 and the supervisor in his 50`s. We were talking about how we spent our spare times as kids:
I used to play outside with my friends, riding our bikes, playing street hockey in the actual street, baseball in the neighborhood abandoned and overgrown schoolyard and play hide and seek in the dark up to 9 and sometimes 10p.m. even in houses under construction.
My colleague used to do about the same, sometimes going fishing with his friends over a mile away on foot for the entire day. Some of them even hitchhiked their way back home for dinner.
The supervisor used to play with rocks and sticks, played games that didn't anything with his friends or they'd spend their day in a quarry (during weekends of course) or at the lake miles and miles away.
One of my history teachers told us about the time he had 5 cents, went to the local bar and played pool for money. He came out with 2$, bought some candy, a baseball glove and bat (which his father couldn't afford), bought a snack at a restaurant and still had 30 cents left over. His father asked how he got the money and congratulated him on it.
I used to play outside with my friends, riding our bikes, playing street hockey in the actual street, baseball in the neighborhood abandoned and overgrown schoolyard and play hide and seek in the dark up to 9 and sometimes 10p.m. even in houses under construction.
My colleague used to do about the same, sometimes going fishing with his friends over a mile away on foot for the entire day. Some of them even hitchhiked their way back home for dinner.
The supervisor used to play with rocks and sticks, played games that didn't anything with his friends or they'd spend their day in a quarry (during weekends of course) or at the lake miles and miles away.
One of my history teachers told us about the time he had 5 cents, went to the local bar and played pool for money. He came out with 2$, bought some candy, a baseball glove and bat (which his father couldn't afford), bought a snack at a restaurant and still had 30 cents left over. His father asked how he got the money and congratulated him on it.
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