Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz pimping Phillip Morris Cigarette

In the 1950's, you could smoke in the hospitals, the doctor's waiting room, on the bus, and even at school. My principal smoked a pipe in his office. My grandmother was a doctor who picked up smoking because she had to light one up before she worked on a cadaver. The methods used to preserve a cadaver were not as good as they are today, and in order to become a doctor, you had to pass one of your finals by operating on one. The students smoked to compensate for the stench.

In 1970 my Mom had to have her gall bladder removed. The day of the surgery we were in the waiting area, and our family Doctor came out to talk with us prior to the surgery as most Doctors were Surgeons too, back in those days .He had the scrubs and surgical cap on....and a cigarette was dangling from his mouth as he assured that everything would be alright! It's mind boggling how that was never given a second thought in those days...

My maternal grandmother was a doctor in the early 1920s before she became a famous silent movie actress who starred with Conrad Veight.
When she attende the medical school, wh had to practice on cadavers and in those days the method of preserving the body from decay. When the students were operating on a "fresh" cadaver, the stench was so bad, that almost all light up to mask the stink. This is how she picked up her nicotine habit. She died from lung cancer at the age of 73

All four of the main characters from "I Love Lucy" died from cigarettes!

Vivian Vance died from cancer, but she was a non-smoker.

Philip Morris originally sponsored "I LOVE LUCY" from 1951 through '55; Lucy & Desi appeared "in character" to pitch their sponsor's brand at the end of virtually every episode. The original animated opening title featured Johnny Roventini's famous clarion "Call For Philip Mor-aiss!" at the beginning. After Lucy & Desi's goodnights, Johnny would appear again, followed by the closing credits, with a pack of Philip Morris behind it {here, both regular & "king size"}. This is a 1953 endorsement.

Easy on your throat. Yeah,OK.

what the hell is that kid supposed to be? so weird...eeww...

That's not a kid. That's Johnny Roventini who actually was a bell boy working at a New York hotel when he was discovered, and became the product spokesman for Philip Morris cigs...you can wiki Johnny Roventini to read about his rags to riches life....he is downright scary looking....

You're so right! He scared the shit out of me when I saw him in the ads. In fact, I almost think he might be the scariest hotel thing since Norman in Psycho. I can't wait to wiki Johnny Roventini and read the tale.