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Thread: Smoking in TV series

  1. #1
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    Default Smoking in TV series

    It seems like TV series playing in the recent past have found smoking as the perfect way to show that the past really was different. And it's true, smoking was much less of a problem than it is today. But I can't help feeling that they're overdoing it. People in the eighties and nineties smoked a lot more yes, but smoking during dinner? Even back then you were expected to wait at least until the last person had stopped eating.
    Congratulations America

  2. #2
    Ha. Watching Ep 2 of Queen's Gambit last night, I commented to my wife the strange juxtaposition found when the protagonist went to pick up some cigarettes, she went to visit a Tobacconist, but which also doubled as a Pharmacist.

    Based in 1963 it may have been normal, but to today's health-conscious view, having cigarettes sold alongside medicines is jarring.
    Quote Originally Posted by Steely Glint View Post
    It's actually the original French billion, which is bi-million, which is a million to the power of 2. We adopted the word, and then they changed it, presumably as revenge for Crecy and Agincourt, and then the treasonous Americans adopted the new French usage and spread it all over the world. And now we have to use it.

    And that's Why I'm Voting Leave.

  3. #3
    Until very recently in the US you could buy cigarettes at pharmacies.
    "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)

  4. #4

  5. #5
    I didn't mean legally. I know CVS voluntarily stopped a while back, I thought some other big chains had followed suit. I don't see many people buying cigarettes these days anywhere, but that's probably because of where I live.

    Edit: looked it up, CVS is the only one to voluntarily stop but others have made them harder to find. And MA has had a blanket ban for pharmacies for a few years. Joined now by NY and a bunch of municipalities in eg CA.

    Most people who I see buying do it at places like 7-eleven.
    Last edited by wiggin; 11-26-2020 at 10:38 AM.
    "When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)

  6. #6
    If you want to get a real feel about smoking...just watch the retro TV shows and movies. Smoking was allowed in doctor's offices and hospitals, pretty much everywhere, except for elevators. Just look for the ash trays. My apartment complex was built in the early 80's, and still has the metal ash trays bolted at the entrance/common area.

    Hazir, not smoking until everyone had finished their meal was an "etiquette" mostly reserved for fine dining. But in the US that was often and easily mixed-up by the country club & brunch crowd, when "ash-tray butlers" were tasked with removing/emptying every single butt during hours-long meals. I remember my folks telling me that a "good waiter" never needed to be asked to empty their ash-trays, or refill their drinks, and that was a big part in determining their tips.

    My how things have changed.

    PS I'm also old enough to remember when smoking was allowed on airplanes....but only in the "smoking section".

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