Increasing the alleged association of cigars with Father's Day… and recycling of old articles:
"It's Father's Day and, according to the Census Bureau, there are 60 million dads in America. That could mean a lot of ties, cigars and backyard cookouts."Cameron, Diane. "Let's give families gift of support." Albany Times Union. June 18, 2000: B1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=6055672
"It's Father's Day and, according to the Census Bureau, there are 64 million fathers in America. That means a lot of ties, cigars and back yard cookouts today"
Cameron, Diane. "What fathers really need to create a happy family." Albany Times Union. June 21, 2009: B2. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=8238134
Could mean to does mean in nine years.
And yet a year prior to Cameron's 2000 article suggesting that Father's Day "could mean a lot of […] cigars," was one indicating that smoking is hazardous and one should not give cigarettes or cigars (although it's promoting fishing, so easily had also been press release material):
"I can't think of a better Father's Day gift than to take pop fishing. It sure beats neckties, and with smoking being hazardous to one's health, you certainly don't want to present him with any cigarettes or cigars."Nelson, Dick. "Plenty of Places to take Dad fishing." Albany Times Union. June 20, 1999: E10. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5994900
Good for Nelson!
Articles about President Clinton using Father's Day to speak about cancer and anti-smoking efforts:
"Clinton decries liquor, tobacco." Albany Times Union. June 16, 1996: A15. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5818350
Bob Dole then attacked Clinton. As the article notes, Dole would: "Lockhart also said Dole has accepted $385,000 in campaign contributions from tobacco industry interests and flew 38 times aboard tobacco industry corporate jets."
"Clinton promises $60M for prostate cancer study." Albany Times Union. June 21, 1998: A12. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5929927
Trent Lott then attacked Clinton for using Father's Day for political gain. Lott would, of course, never do that:
"Over the last year, Lott has flown with U.S. Tobacco Co., R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, among others, writing them checks that total more than $23,000. He has also opposed efforts to regulate tobacco as a drug and to raise federal cigarette taxes."
Colin, Chris. "Trent Lott, wandering hero." Salon.com. May 10, 2000. http://www.salon.com/2000/05/10/lott_4/
"Trent Lott Leadership Institute" http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/viz37c00
"University of Mississippi" http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/cgd41c00
Tobacco industry had reported sinking sales on Father's Day, which it appears they were responding to by offering "low price deals"… and I suspect by sending press releases to newspapers so that they'd get tobacco products mentioned in the newspaper, when newspapers typically don't run tobacco advertisements:
"Times have changed since Ronald Reagan asked consumers in the early 1950s to give their father a carton of cigarettes on Father's Day."Today, the holiday sales of tobacco products 'have very little impact on the marketplace' compared to the days of low taxes and low health- related concerns, said Scott Stapf, assistant to the president of the Tobacco Institute in Washington, D.C. 'You don't see the kids coming in and asking for a pouch of Half & Half for the old man anymore,' said Vince Bonafede, owner of the two Vottis Pipe Shops in Albany.
However, both Lee Zyniecki, owner of Edleer Tobacco at Stuyvesant Plaza, and Gary Greenburg, owner of Arthur's Pipe & Gift Shop in Albany, have noticed an increase of cigar sales the week before Father's Day.
"'This is the biggest week of the year for specialized cigar sales,' said Greenburg, because of 'low price deals and, in general, people are spending more money.'
Klucina, John L. "Fewer smokes on Father's Day; gift of tobacco for Dad a dying tradition." Albany Times Union. June 21, 1987: D1. http://albarchive.merlinone.net/mweb/wmsql.wm.request?oneimage&imageid=5423148
Why do I think Klucina's article might have been based off a press release?
It's partly a guess, based on the tobacco industry's history and partly the ambiguous position of the headline that leans somewhat more towards supporting tobacco. Traditions are generally seen as good, so a "dying tradition" could be read as something negative, absent text indicating that the tradition should in fact end. However, the article has no mention of cancer, just "the days of [...] low health-related concerns"; "Despite the popular belief that health concerns have caused the drop in cigarette sales"; "He said the top three variables are price, level of taxation, and health concerns"; "In 1964, when health-related concerns first received attention, there was a big dip in consumption. But, by 1968 consumption was rising again."
The article's also poorly-written. It drops a lot of names, quotes, and statistics, but doesn't really question anything.
Can the Tobacco Institute's statistics quoted in the article be trusted, for example? I doubt it. The institute was dissolved by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement in 1998. They ran a legal notice about it in the Times Union (I wonder if they had been obligated to place one in the TU specifically for some reason?): http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/qri50c00 Can local tobacco stores' self-reporting be trusted, without seeing the books? Again, I tend to doubt it for this particular industry.
Among other things, the article also goes from claiming that health concerns being responsible for fewer sales, to claiming that health concerns are one of the top three reasons for fewer sales from one sentence to the very next sentence.
It's "written" by the Times Union's business editor, and it has references to: two Vottis Pipe Shops in Albany; Edleer Tobacco at Stuyvesant Plaza; Arthur's Pipe & Gift Shop in Albany; Blender's Choice in East Greenbush; Pipe Den at the Clifton Country Mall; and Smoker, Pipe and Tobacco Shop in Albany. It mentions tobacco, cigarettes, cigars, pouches, roll-your-own, chewing tobacco, and pipes. "Sale" or "sales" is used sixteen times, along with "low price deals," in an article ostensibly about "fewer smokes on Father's Day."
There's also this propaganda:
"'a younger, more successful male is buying cigars. They feel it's a bit more stylish than cigarettes, today,' said Greenburg."Hey, you Capital District youngsters: smoking is super cool!
"Zyniecki said the store is selling more cigars today, as people try to 'break the cigarette habit, they go to the cigar.'"
Hey, everybody in the Capital District: cigars are a popular smoking cessation product!
You might try searching:
"times union" and albany
at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/ - Going through all of it could take some time: 3,150 hits.
Likewise, search:
"father's day" OR "fathers' day" OR "fathers day"
at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/ - Going through all of it could take some time too: 1,781 hits. One document from that search attached, which appears to be typical (image quality is better at http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/plr94e00/pdf).
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