Smoke gets in your eyes

I never smoked, really only because I did not see the fascination of spending an enormous amount of money to see something go up in smoke.

However most of my family were or still are smokers and I do feel sorry for smokers. I do think they get a bad press. Yes, smoking is bad for you but what chance did the smokers have with so many people making it look cool.

If I was a smoker I don’t think I could have resisted the temptation. Here are just some historical pictures of people,mostly famous, who made smoking look cool.

Tippi Hedren, star of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’, with a tame Raven shown helping her indulge a bad habit.

Young Drew Barrymore

Models learning proper cigarette smoking technique in practice for TV ad. 1953

Jack Nicholson & Sean Penn

Clark Gable and Ava Gardner, Mogambo, 1953

I mean Steve McQueen on a bike smoking a cigarette, how cool is that. Yes I know it’s bad and can kill you but with images like that what chance does a smoker have.

This is the Marilyn Monroe pic that obviously inspired Lana Del Rey.

Michael Caine and Natalie Wood

Humphrey Bogart Lauren Bacall.

I do not want to trivialize the dangers of smoking because the dangers are real, but too often smokers and particularly smokers of an older generation are being preached to, where they should be educated.

They grew up in an era where smoking was perceived to be cool as per their screen idols, and I do feel sorry for them because often this is the last vice they may have and they are being crucified for it.