Life, 1926-12-09 · page 44 of 45
Life — December 9, 1926 — page 44: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a **Camel cigarette advertisement**, not satire. The illustration shows well-dressed men in 1920s business attire gathered outside an elegant building with a large Camel cigarette package looming above them. The ad makes three marketing claims: 1. Camel pioneered quality cigarette smoking 2. The brand combines Turkish and Domestic tobaccos in superior blending 3. Smoking Camels represents a refined lifestyle choice The text emphasizes exclusivity and craftsmanship—"nothing is too good or too expensive" to make Camels superior. The sophisticated setting and well-groomed figures reinforce aspirational messaging: smoking Camels signals status and good taste. From a modern perspective, this is remarkable primarily for its **unironic health claims**—promoting cigarettes as a pleasurable sensory experience without any health warnings, which was standard pre-1965 advertising.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Camels made cigarettes the popular smoke THROUGH sheer quality, through a never before known smoking en- joyment, Camels won the world to cigarettes. Camel was the first and only cigarette that combined all the goodnesses of the choicest Turkish and Domestic tobaccos — and Camel became the greatest smoke word of all ages. No tobacco name compares with Camel. Camel won and holds its over- whelming preference through in- domitable tobacco quality. Only the choicest Turkish and Domestic R. J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, WINSTON-SALEM, tobaccos are rolled into Camels. These fine tobaccos receive the skil- ful blending that only the world’s largest tobacco organization could give. Nothing is too good or too expensive that will make Camels the utmost in cigarettes. If you have never yet tried Camels, a new sensation in smoking pleasure awaits you. The sensation of the choicest grown, the most per- fectly blended tobaccos that money can buy. Have a Camel! N. C. comicbooks.com