The
following is a weekly 60 Minutes commentary by CBS News Correspondent
Andy Rooney.
-----------------------------------------------------------Every
once in a while, there's some good news. Half as many Americans
smoke cigarettes now, compared to the number who used to smoke
them, and that's good news. (Still over
22.5% of American smoke. That's adds up to over 50,000,000
smokers and 200,000,000 being adversely affected by their
smoking! -- SFSC)
The percentage of high school kids smoking
is lower than it's ever been.
An interesting thing about smoking statistics,
42 percent of those who don't graduate from high school smoke,
but only 12 percent of college graduates smoke.
People with graduate degrees smoke least
of all -- 7 percent of them. In other words, if I can say
this without offending anyone, the dumbest people smoke the
most. Maybe it would be politically correct to say "the
smartest people smoke the least."
American tobacco companies are pushing lung
cancer in foreign countries now.
That's how to win friends for the United
States, isn't it?
How would you like to be in the ashtray business
now that no one wants anyone smoking around them? My mother
always had ashtrays around.
This beautiful Steuben crystal ashtray was
on the coffee table in our living room for 35 years.
There was an ashtray on every table in every
restaurant. Mexican restaurant. Bookbinders in Philadelphia.
The famous Stork Club in New York.
This is a silver cigarette box my father
brought home from Japan in 1930.
They handed out matchbooks everywhere with
advertising. Salem Cigarettes, Marriott Hotels. The Harbor
Motor Hotel in Steamboat Springs.
Actors like Humphrey Bogart used cigarettes
as a prop - and Bette Davis, Jackie Gleason on 60 Minutes.
Some smokers kept their distance with cigarette
holders.
This little beauty is made of ivory. An elephant
died for this smoker.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt made this model
famous.
He looked great with his cigarette holder.
Most people kept the pack in their pocket
but some smokers put them in silver cases. This leather case
has the owner's initials. Why would you put your initials
on a cigarette case?
Lighters were more fun to play with than
matches. That's what you gave a smoker for Christmas - a cigarette
lighter. This Ronson was on most living room coffee tables.
The most famous lighter was the ZIPPO. Soldiers
always carried Zippos in World War II. They worked better
than matches in the mud.
The inescapable fact that smoking causes
lung cancer has obviously had a big effect on cigarette sales,
but I think there's another reason, too. We bought these Marlboros
to have on my desk. This carton cost us $75. Who can afford
to burn tobacco at those prices?
Written By Andy Rooney © MMV, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All
Rights Reserved.
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