Gorgeous I’d Walk A Mile For A Camel Times Square Billboard, 1964

Discussion in 'Other Reminiscences' started by Joe Riley, Jul 27, 2023.

  1. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    "Although with all that smoking, I don’t think this dude is walking anywhere."
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    "Perhaps it’s just me, but have you ever noticed that seemingly every guy featured in pre-1970’s advertisements was just a slightly modified version of Cary Grant?"

    "This image in particular is more than just similar to the Hollywood icon. It’s a spitting image! The hair slicked back and to the left, the prominent cheekbones, heck even the cleft chin is a dead ringer"

    "The photo itself is a wonderful 35mm restored slide from the collection of Bill Kotter. As for the content, we get to re-visit one of the most enduring images of Times Square: known as the “Camel Man,” the giant billboard famously blew cigarette smoke rings around the clock from 1941 to 1966 from its mount fronting the Hotel Claridge."

    The Smoking Camel Man New York 1964

     
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  2. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Q: You're in the desert, you are out of water, where do you turn?
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    A: You turn the corner and there's the City! You are saved!
     
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  3. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    "Although with all that smoking, I don’t think this dude is walking anywhere."

    The irony is that the animal depicted on a camel pack isn’t a Camel but rather, a Dromedary which, in Greek, means “swift runner”.
     
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  4. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    "Camel Cash", or "C-Note", was a promotional ticket stuck to the back of filtered varieties of Camel cigarettes. It was made to vaguely resemble currency and could be exchanged for items from the Camel Cash catalog. It could not be used, however, to purchase Camel tobacco products.

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    "The artwork changed many times over the years, and in the past included the face of Joe Camel, much in the same way as presidents are featured on American currency; later designs just used a Camel silhouette like the one on the Camel logo, after Joe Camel was discontinued. Camel Cash redemption expired on March 31, 2007, angering some smokers who had been saving up the "cash" for years only to find it suddenly worthless."
     
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  5. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Man With Shoebox Full of Camel Cash from the 90s Considers Self Cryptocurrency Investor

    NORCROSS, Ga. — "Local man Craig Barnett, who quit smoking in 1995, discovered a box yesterday filled with Camel cigarettes’s now-obsolete Camel Cash, prompting him to let everyone know he was getting into cryptocurrency, friends and family confirmed."

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    “I couldn’t believe it: I opened the lid to this old shoebox in my garage, and found basically my retirement fund staring me right in the face. Now that they don’t make these anymore, they must be worth a fortune,” Barnett said while trying to wipe the mold off of each slip of paper. “Now all I have to do is go online and get me some of them blockchains or NFTs. This is totally worth the 20 years of my life smoking took away from me. If you can sell a tweet, I’m sure I can sell these.” (READ MORE)
     
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  6. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I thought that both Bactrians (2 humps) and Dromedaries (1 hump) were both of the Camel family.
     
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  7. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    True. The genus of both is indeed camelus but just like all flies are called flies whether they are a house fly or a horse fly, the differences between the types are pretty specific.

    Besides, I like being a pain in the tail once in a while.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    You threw me for a loop for a second. Besides, I don't often get the chance to type "Bactrians" in a forum comment.
     
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  9. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    I avoided typing it because I didn’t want it to be a first for me.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 30, 2023
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  10. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    For most of the time that I smoked, I smoked Camel non-filters.
     
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  11. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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    Camel Coffee
    [​IMG]

    Dromedaries or Bactrians?
     
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  12. Bobby Cole

    Bobby Cole Supreme Member
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    I smoked Camels throughout my stay in the Army when they only cost about 25 cents a pack. Now, they’re around $10 and that’s here in Alabama.
    I hear tell that on the west coast, they’re nearly $15 a pack.
     
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  13. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    They probably cause cancer in California, too.
     
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  14. Joe Riley

    Joe Riley Supreme Member
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  15. Nancy Hart

    Nancy Hart Supreme Member
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    That is interesting and funny looking.

    And then there are those who run like a goat. :rolleyes:

     
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