WWII Era Cigarette Packs?

[zepher11]

Received these original packs of cigarettes from a fella the acquired them from a 90 plus year old vet. The vet indicated they were of WWII era vintage, but I'm not sure how one can tell. Anyone able to verify a vintage on the the packs in the photo? They smell vintage. LSMFT

[chibobber]

Cool, not sure on vintage. Dad smoked Luckies. He once told me "Loose straps mean floppy ......" The other joke was where is the camel heading, turn the pack over, to the oasis.
John, how are the vehicles coming along?
Bob

[zepher11]

Cool, not sure on vintage. Dad smoked Luckies. He once told me "Loose straps mean floppy ......" The other joke was where is the camel heading, turn the pack over, to the oasis.
John, how are the vehicles coming along?
Bob

Hey Bob,

I like those old jokes. Reminds me of the new women's bras in England during WWII. One Yank and they're off, or something like that.

Took a little time off on vehicles during the summer. Was hot! Was just about to get back on them a month or so ago, then snagged for like three weeks on Jury duty. Only thing that released me from that was that my wife took a tumble and pulverized her right elbow and forearm. Wasn't good. Totally rebuilt now, and she's starting to become somewhat self sufficient now. It will never be the same. Joint is gone and now metal.

Catching up on some home maintenance now that winter is here. Rain already. Was like a 100 degrees a couple weeks ago. I also retired my 25 year old tow vehicle. 2000 Ford F250 and upgraded to a 2024 Ford F350 just before i was sucked into jury duty. Man, it's like going from the Volkswagen Beetle to the Space Shuttle! Few hundred HP over the other engine, and about 600 ft. lbs of torque more than the old truck. Been busy upgrading it when I can for my camper and towing. Have installed my 30,000 lb. hitch, have my frame mount tie downs installed, and working on the air bag system install now. Plus had to add a subwoofer as the new trucks have the worst stereo system I've ever had in a vehicle.

I'm feeling the urge to get cracking on the VC1 again soon. Plus need to run down south tomorrow to pick up a M274 Mule that wondered onto the radar. lol

Hope all is well with you. I need to get caught up on my threads here too.

Take care,

[Fernmelder]

Can you provide some photos of the sides of the packs and the cartons. There should be some information there. Any of them for sale?

[W. Winget]

Back in the 80's in Germany a fellow offered me a pack free as I was reenacting / collecting, I thanked him, said I appreciated it but stated I didn't smoke....yeah, how much are those packs worth now....Gheez that was a no brainer.
Nice find, lay a pack with the M1 while displaying would make a nice reference to the 40's GI even if they turn out to be latter packs.
W Winget

[zepher11]

Can you provide some photos of the sides of the packs and the cartons. There should be some information there. Any of them for sale?

Here's a photo of the ends of the cartons:



And both sides of the cig packs:





Not for sale...yet. lol

Also received these too. Pretty sure WWII era:

Back in the 80's in Germany a fellow offered me a pack free as I was reenacting / collecting, I thanked him, said I appreciated it but stated I didn't smoke....yeah, how much are those packs worth now....Gheez that was a no brainer.
Nice find, lay a pack with the M1 while displaying would make a nice reference to the 40's GI even if they turn out to be latter packs.
W Winget

Very cool. Yeah, these will be great display fodder for sure!

[Fernmelder]

They do all appear to be from the 40s, however;
The blue seal suggests they were commercially made and tax paid. Those issued to the military normally carried a beige or white tax free seal
The red band on the cellophane also suggests a non-military, commercial issue.

Not sure about the 20s on the carton ends - the price in the UK perhaps ?
Not sure about the factory numbers on the packs. Most show North Carolina being the state of manufacture.
Too bad he doesn't have a sample of "JEEP" cigarettes !
Any further comments are welcome

[Steve Webb]

I believe that is English price in shillings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilling_(British_coin)

[markrdje]

With the C rats, cigarettes were with them, a little heat tab to light the food

[Fernmelder]

This thread has sparked (no pun intended) an interest in cancer sticks. During a time when an estimated half the adult population smoked, it is little wonder so many varieties were available.

I’ve answered one question I had relative to the original post – yes, those are WW2 vintage, yet commercial manufacture IMO. The packs issued to servicemen and women had a tax exempt stamp, as evidenced here.

The full text states:
Free of Tax - For use only of US Military or Naval Forces, in Alaska and Hawaii, of for use outside the jurisdiction of the internal revenue laws of the United States. This product is admitted free of duty.


I’ve discovered a collector who has quite some knowledge about the topic.