Life, 1926-07-15 · page 36 of 37
Life — July 15, 1926 — page 36: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Camel cigarette advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. Dated 1926, it uses lifestyle marketing to sell cigarettes by associating them with healthy outdoor recreation. The page depicts beachgoers surfing and relaxing on sand, positioned to suggest that smoking Camels is a natural reward after vigorous exercise. The advertising copy emphasizes the cigarette's "mildness" and claims it won't cause "cigaretty after-taste"—addressing a common consumer concern of the era. For modern readers, the striking element is the **casual health claim**: advertising explicitly links cigarette smoking to "healthful exercise" and physical well-being. This reflects pre-regulation advertising (before health warnings were required). The R.J. Reynolds company confidently claims Camels are the "overwhelming choice of experienced smokers," positioning the product as a mark of sophistication and taste. The page demonstrates how cigarettes were once marketed openly alongside athletic activity, a practice now legally prohibited.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
YVhen you’ve taken a plunge in the cool, bracing surf— and battered and wet with spray, you climb out on the welcoming sand —have a Camel! WHEN the surf is running in from the sea. And you plunge in to shoulder aside the foam-topped rollers. When you climb out, glow- ing, and join the crowds on the beach—have a Camel! For after healthful exer- cise, no other cigarette in the world satisfies the taste like Camels. Camel mild- ness and mellow fragrance is the awaited award of mil- lions of experienced smok- ers. Camels are rolled of the choicest tobaccos nature grows—they never tire the taste. Camels are the expert blend that did away with cigaretty after-taste. So this sparkling day as you start for the cool, rest- ful beach. When with meas- ured strokes you have tried your strength against the breakers — know then the most fragrant mellowness ever made into a cigarette. — Have a Camel! . Camels contain the very choicest tobaccos grown in all the world. Our highest wish, if you Camels are blended by the world’s most expert blenders. Nothing is Loy do not yet know end rs Ps enjoy Camel quality, is too good for Camels. In the making of this one brand we concentrate that you may try them. the tobacco knowledge and skill of the largest organization of tobacco ; We invite zon, to, com experts in the world. No other cigarette made is like Camels. They : pare Camels with any are the overwhelming choice of experienced smokers. y \ Sy pes R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Winston-Salem, N. C. comicbooks.com