It is amazing what one can see when looking back from " been there, done that".

As Sorcha said, the monetary cost alone, is a factor now. The $2.50 -$3.50 a pack is a far cry from the 10 cents a pack I payed on board ship.

And being abe to spot cigarette mishaps on instruments. A couple of years ago I was given my maternal grandfather's fiddle.He played at all the country hoe downs and barndances around the Ottawa, Ohio area. The fiddle is German and dates from around 1900. He was killed when his car stalled on the railroad tracks coming home from a gig ( he did like his corn likker)> The fiddle survived,including the old coffin-style wooden case.

After playing it for a few months I talked with my mother about it and asked her if grandad Mullett had smoked. She asked why and I told her that I had noticed burn marks on the top of the fiddle that would corespond to a cigarette hanging out of the players mouth. She told me that he smoked cigars and would smoke them while playing.

BTW he died sometime in the 1930's

rr