Ciggy sticker shock

Staring back at me from the Jewel service desk was the cigarette display (yes, Jewel still sells cancer sticks). The big numbers in both size and amount proclaiming $9.01 jolted me back to 1955, when my ten year old friends and I bought our first pack of smokes at a local mom and pop grocery store. Back in ’55 mom and pops were as ubiquitous as Starbucks today. No signs demanding ID to buy tobacco and no questions asked. We picked out the bravest of our crew to sidle up to mom or pop, pluck down our collective 27 cents and pipe up “Package of Marlboro, please”. Nothing else exchanged besides the 27 cents and the coveted package. At 27 cents we were splurging. Pint size ‘regular’ smokes were 25 cents; king size was an extra penny. Getting the 27th cent for filters, avoiding tobacco bits on our lips and teeth was important.

We newbie smokers had a bigger problem: finding a hiding spot to puff away at. Fortunately, our outlying Chicago neighborhood had an abundance of prairies, some filled with enough trees to keep us hidden from those pesky adults. No helicopter parents to spoil our fun in the Fabulous Fifties.

After a couple of weeks we grew tired of sitting around inhaling fouled air when we could be running around playing baseball. Gave up smoking for 5 years till I was 15; then for good 7 years later. Still among best life decisions I ever made. If ciggies cost $9.01 back then or even 91 cents, we would never have started. Amazes me what folks will pay today to ruin their health.