I quit 50 years ago, come June.

Pulling out of an Irving/Circle K gas stop this morning and the sign in the window said they'd happily sell you a carton of Marlboros for the measly sum of $124.xx

I imagine the bulk of that is taxes, but Jeebus! Why the HELL would anybody start smoking at those prices?

Was paying $1.80 a carton for smokes at the commissary back then.

Glad I quit, though.

Yeah, a carton was right at $5 in 1988 at the commissary, when I quit in 2011 they were about $5 a pack, they are about $9 a pack now

My father served in WW2. He said a pack of butts was a nickel. I quit 26 years ago, I think maybe a pack was 1.50 or 2 dollars.

I remember when a 5 pack was included in every C-Ration "meal"

I remember many times when I was about 6 years old being sent into the corner store by my mother to buy a carton of cigarettes for her and my father. No questions asked, and the carton was 2 bucks.

I tried smoking and dip exactly once each in high school. The smoke made me choke and the dip made me throw up.

I'll never understand how inhaling toxic smoke into your lungs even became a thing.

I too had to pedal down to the grocery to get smokes for my parents.
Emphysema ended up killing my mother. My old man was not affected and lived until his mid 80s.

quote:

Originally posted by Anush:
I remember when a 5 pack was included in every C-Ration "meal"

I always traded those for a pound cake or a John Wayne bar.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Why the HELL would anybody start smoking at those prices?

I've wondered similar when I happen to be inside a gas station. Crazy.
I never picked up the habit. Both parents were smokers when I was a kid, along with one set of grandparents. That alone was enough to keep me from ever trying it.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
I never picked up the habit. Both parents were smokers when I was a kid, along with one set of grandparents. That alone was enough to keep me from ever trying it.

My sister and I experienced your pain.

I quit a few years ago. That immediately gave me a $300/month raise.

Glad I quit. Still get an urge every once in a while.

1966, the PX in Lai Khe Vietnam, Marlboro cigs were 11 cents, up from 10 cents.

Fortunately I never picked up the bad habit of smoking although I tried it a few times I never got anything out of it. I worked with a guy who at the age of 40+ decided to take up smoking cigars, dumb decision in my opinion, started to ask him with all we know concerning the dangers of smoking why start now? Didn't think it was worth the effort to ask so stayed silent. Smoking is just associated with too many health risks as well as taking a big bite out of your wallet.

I quit in November 1984, when the vending machine at work hit $1.75 / pack.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
1966, the PX in Lai Khe Vietnam, Marlboro cigs were 11 cents, up from 10 cents.

I did remember the 10¢ a pack along with $1.20 for Johnny Walker Red, but never noticed the huge 10% price increase.
Even allowing for inflation from 1966 until today, that would still be only about $1.00.

Fortunately I didn’t follow my parents into smoking. Of course in the 1940s when they started it was considered not only harmless, but actually beneficial. My father introduced my mother to smoking to help “calm her nerves.”

It never really bothered me that my parents smoked, but as a teen I read many of the relatively recently-published books about being a POW in WWII and Korea, and especially of the Japanese and Chinese. The horror stories about what some men were willing to do for a cigarette under those conditions convinced me that I never wanted to be a slave to a habit like that.

Smoking has, again fortunately, become far less common today, but even at only half a pack a day, $6.00 × 30 adds up.

In college (1970-74), there was a cigarette machine in the student union building. A pack was 25 cents.

I quit a year ago almost exactly. Jan 23,2025, cold turkey and no nicotine since. Cigarettes were around $8 a pack then in FL. When I started they were like $1.75 a pack probably around 1992....... When people start smoking they don't smoke that many, usually 2-5 a day for a few years, then 10 a day for a decade for many smokers it seems, so the price isn't so horrible in the beginning.

i see TONS of people vaping, but those young vapers seem to pick up a cig or two when drinking at the bar. I tried vaping a 1/2 dozen times and never liked it compared to smoking. I'd use those ON pouches for a nicotine fix in times I couldn't smoke (traveling) etc.

But breathing and energy level are 30% better, however I gained 30lbs, and despite exercising 35% more than the year before and eating better cannot lose it. So I guess it sped up my metabolism quite a bit. I do NOT miss the smell, shortness of breath, coughing up crap in the morning. But once in a while I still crave one or think about it.

In Australia a pack is 45 to 50 dollars which is over $30 US.

What I find funny is this is only cigarettes, pipe tobacco and cigars are not nearly as taxed.