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Sep 30, 2009, 01:58 PM
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#1
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Fool On The Hill
Join Date: Sep 30, 2009
Posts: 8
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The Beatles and cigarette smoking
The Beatles grew up in the heyday of smoking, and Liverpool was known to be inhabited with plenty of especially heavy smokers, even after English sixties smoking standards...
Unfortunately, smoking may lead to serious health problems, as we all know.
Known heavy smokers among people connected with the Beatles:
Their parent generation:
Aunt Mimi (source: Mendips National Trust guided tour host Colin Smith. And in Mendips, Mimi's silver cigarette casing is exhibited)
Harold Harrison (George's father) (died of smoking related disease)
Cynthia Powell's father (died of lung cancer when Cyn was a teenager)
Jim McCartney (photo of Jim smoking pipe in 20 Forthlin Road, and he died in a relatively young age of a smoking related disease - didn't he?)
The Beatles were all heavy smokers during the sixties
Neil Aspinall was also a heavy smoker.
Both George and Neil died of smoking related diseases.
In Liverpool in the fifites and sixties, they smoked everywhere. Buses, cinemas, bars, etc etc
I find it a bit fascinating - in a scary way - to learn how many of the sixties pop idols that smoked heavily... It looks cool to pose with a lighted cigarette, but the price to pay is of course high in the long run ...
I wonder:
At what age did typical Liverpudlians start smoking in the fifties?
How old were John, Paul and George when they started - does anyone know - is there any documentation about this?
Last edited by tobeto : Sep 30, 2009 at 02:03 PM.
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Sep 30, 2009, 03:19 PM
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#2
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Sun King
Join Date: Feb 08, 2004
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,399
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I'm not sure, but probably in the Hamburg days or a bit earlier. A majority of the wives smoked, as well.
They were probably in their late teens when they started, I'd imagine.
__________________
**~JAYE~**
http://jesmith2009.tripod.com
John Winston Ono Lennon - 10/9/1940--12/8/1980
George Harrison - 2/25/1943--11/29/2001
Michael Joseph Jackson - 8/29/1958--6/25/2009
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Sep 30, 2009, 03:53 PM
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#3
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Sun King
Join Date: Jan 09, 2003
Location: Back to Macau, my Homeland...
Posts: 11,976
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The "nails"...
__________________
Favorite Beatle: George (1943-2001)
Favorite Beatle year(s): 1966, 1967*, 1968
(*1967 was the year that My Guy was born... my favorite Guy...)
My Quote for George:
"A Butterfly Flying Around Me Saying Goodbye!"
(29/11/2001)
God Bless You, George... Love ya...
" GEORGE ! You just give me stripes, moustache and a smile... cause You're So Fine!"
Song to remember the Past: "In My Life"
Just call me Cloud or GOC9
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Sep 30, 2009, 08:09 PM
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#4
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Old Brown Shoe
Join Date: Jun 26, 2008
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 3,348
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I'd say late teens as well.
__________________
"Once upon a time there were three
little boys called john, george and paul,
by named christened. They decided to get
together because they were the getting-together
type. When they were together they wondered
what for after all, what for? So all of a sudden
they all grew guitars and formed a noise."
- JOHN LENNON
"I'm always getting winked at these days" ♥
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Sep 30, 2009, 08:43 PM
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#5
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Wild Honey Pie
Join Date: Sep 24, 2009
Location: the hills of Tennessee
Posts: 601
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I'd be willing to bet they started smoking earlier than late teens. There was a kind of perverse thrill involved with smoking among some of my junior high peers, and I'll bet the same was true in Liverpool in the late 50s.
__________________
 Dwight
"There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be."
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Sep 30, 2009, 08:55 PM
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#6
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Dr. Robert
Join Date: Jan 16, 2004
Location: BROOKLYN,NY
Posts: 1,494
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In the anthology, dosen't Neil say him and George used to sneak off to the back for a smoke? They couldn't have been older then 14?
I don't think that was too uncommon back then...my grandfather started smoking when he was 8 for crying out loud..I don't think they were that aware of the side effects back then///
__________________
[CHRIST!]
You know it ain't easy...
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
Nothing Is Beatle-Proof!!
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Oct 01, 2009, 12:23 AM
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#7
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Fool On The Hill
Join Date: Sep 30, 2009
Posts: 8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pepperland Kamer
In the anthology, dosen't Neil say him and George used to sneak off to the back for a smoke? They couldn't have been older then 14?
I don't think that was too uncommon back then...my grandfather started smoking when he was 8 for crying out loud..I don't think they were that aware of the side effects back then///
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The first large official reports that indicated that smoking may cause cancer - widely published in the media - came in about 1964 i think. But there were reports of adverse side effects way before that, that many were aware of.
Think about all the cigarette smoke that John inhaled .. A lot of secondhand smoking in Mendips, as both Mimi and all her visiting sisters were heavy smokers.
Cynthia says that she spent half her scholarship in "buying ciggies for John". She met John when he was 17 of course. I guess he had been a smoker for a while already then.
The film people at Twickenham say the Beatles smoked all the time, and they had to put away a cigarette every time there was a take.
Think about the air quality in the van the Beatles and Neil travelled in during their criss-crossing of Britain in 1963 - 5 people smoking incessantly in a little compartement, hour after hour ... Paul and Ringo are lucky if they have avoided smoking related diseases.
Last edited by tobeto : Oct 01, 2009 at 12:26 AM.
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Oct 01, 2009, 11:55 AM
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#8
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Dr. Robert
Join Date: Jan 16, 2004
Location: BROOKLYN,NY
Posts: 1,494
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tobeto
The first large official reports that indicated that smoking may cause cancer - widely published in the media - came in about 1964 i think. But there were reports of adverse side effects way before that, that many were aware of.
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That was still long after my grandfather took his first puff...but even so just because the information is available dosen't mean everybody is aware of it or will heed the warning.
__________________
[CHRIST!]
You know it ain't easy...
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
Nothing Is Beatle-Proof!!
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Oct 01, 2009, 01:09 PM
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#9
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Apple Scruff
Join Date: Apr 07, 2009
Posts: 134
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in the 50's cigs are very in encouraged!
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Oct 01, 2009, 02:43 PM
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#10
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Sun King
Join Date: Feb 08, 2004
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,399
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As I've heard my grandma say, smoking was very "in style" at that time.
__________________
**~JAYE~**
http://jesmith2009.tripod.com
John Winston Ono Lennon - 10/9/1940--12/8/1980
George Harrison - 2/25/1943--11/29/2001
Michael Joseph Jackson - 8/29/1958--6/25/2009
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Oct 02, 2009, 07:24 AM
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#11
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Little Child
Join Date: Jun 03, 2009
Location: Here, There, and Everywhere.
Posts: 96
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I read that when John and Cynthia first started going out, they were always broke because John used all his money for cigarettes.
But, earlier than that, I read that when John and Paul first started wagging school to write songs, they smoked tea leaves in their fathers' pipes. Hm...
__________________
Cheers,
Majintaix.
"After all is said and done, you can't go pleasing everyone."
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Oct 02, 2009, 10:39 PM
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#12
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Sun King
Join Date: Dec 01, 2006
Posts: 26,650
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A lot of smoking was going on among young teenagers in the 70's as well. Myjunior high school (13-16 year olds) allowed smoking at a designated place, if you had your parents permission, which not everyone had, of course. Several of my classmates were smokers at 13-14 years old so I would be surprise the lads weren't into it at that early age as well. The rumble had begun about the dangerous side effects but it wasn't the all out campains we see today and definitely no social stigma attached to it, rather, smoking was in.
__________________
Sometimes I dream in colors
It always happens when
I find myself with others
Who don't pretend
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Oct 03, 2009, 07:57 AM
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#13
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Sun King
Join Date: Mar 02, 2003
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 13,890
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Did all the Beatles wives smoke as well?
__________________
"To realize it's all within yourself, no one else can make you change."
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Oct 03, 2009, 11:05 AM
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#14
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Sun King
Join Date: Feb 08, 2004
Location: Indiana
Posts: 6,399
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Not all of them. I believe Cynthia, Yoko, Linda (pot), and maybe Maureen and Barbara and Pattie. Not too entirely sure about the others.
__________________
**~JAYE~**
http://jesmith2009.tripod.com
John Winston Ono Lennon - 10/9/1940--12/8/1980
George Harrison - 2/25/1943--11/29/2001
Michael Joseph Jackson - 8/29/1958--6/25/2009
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Oct 04, 2009, 10:54 AM
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#15
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Wild Honey Pie
Join Date: Mar 17, 2009
Location: BC, Canada
Posts: 520
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Isn't smoking still widely "accepted" in Europe? Not many resteraunts in North America have a designated smoking section.
I suppose times haven't changed since the '50s, because I always see gr.8s in the smoke pit at my high school. (13-14 years)
Also, I'm sure cigarettes are much worse today than the 50s.
__________________
We reckoned we could make it because there were four of us. None of us would've made it alone, because Paul wasn't quite strong enough, I didn't have enough girl-appeal, George was too quiet, and Ringo was the drummer. But we thought that everyone would be able to dig at least one of us, and that's how it turned out.
- John Lennon
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Oct 04, 2009, 11:11 AM
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#16
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Sun King
Join Date: Dec 01, 2006
Posts: 26,650
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Contrary to popular belief, Europe isn't one unit. There are some countries, such as France and Denmark, where smoking is still very much accepted, while others have strict laws on where you can smoke. It all depends on where you are.
__________________
Sometimes I dream in colors
It always happens when
I find myself with others
Who don't pretend
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Oct 05, 2009, 03:49 AM
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#17
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Sun King
Join Date: Jan 09, 2003
Location: Back to Macau, my Homeland...
Posts: 11,976
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Olivia doesn't smoke, does she?
__________________
Favorite Beatle: George (1943-2001)
Favorite Beatle year(s): 1966, 1967*, 1968
(*1967 was the year that My Guy was born... my favorite Guy...)
My Quote for George:
"A Butterfly Flying Around Me Saying Goodbye!"
(29/11/2001)
God Bless You, George... Love ya...
" GEORGE ! You just give me stripes, moustache and a smile... cause You're So Fine!"
Song to remember the Past: "In My Life"
Just call me Cloud or GOC9
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Jun 22, 2020, 12:14 PM
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#18
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Wild Honey Pie
Join Date: Nov 21, 2011
Posts: 566
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MaccaGirl2891
Not all of them. I believe Cynthia, Yoko, Linda (pot), and maybe Maureen and Barbara and Pattie. Not too entirely sure about the others.
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I saw a video of Maureen smoking after they got married. She was also pregnant I think.
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