IStock Photo 8533767 © knape

The mid-1960’s were the height of American smoking. In 1965, the peak year, 1 in 2.39 adults smoked, more people per capita than at any other time in US history. As lately depicted in AMC’s Mad Men (most of whose actors smoke nicotine-less herbals), in the 1960s, cigarettes were everywhere: in TV ads ( “More Doctors Smoke Camels” and this Flintstones cigarette ad are notable examples), cigarette-sponsored TV shows, magazine and newspaper ads, even on baseball cards.

The year 1965 also recorded smoking landmarks of a different sort. The previous year’s Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee Report on Smoking and Health for the first time publicly linked smoking with cancer and other health risks—leading to the Surgeon General’s warning labels. That same year, America lost several cultural icons:

• Stan Laurel (comedian) died of a heart attack.
• Nat King Cole (singer) died of lung cancer. Cole believed Kools—his preferred brand—lowered his voice, and would smoke multiple packs before recording sessions.
• Spike Jones (big-band songwriter) died of emphysema.
• Edward R. Murrow (journalist) died of lung cancer. A well-known smoker, he consumed around three packs a day. On his show See It Now, Murrow was one of the first to report on smoking and lung cancer, famously confessing, “I doubt very much that I could spend a half hour without a cigarette with any comfort or ease.”

All were very heavy smokers.

In the 45 years since 1965, the odds an adult smokes have been on a steady decline.