I first heard that story about the enchanted tree some 50 years ago when the ad slogan was still fresh in people's minds. Since Uncle Ken talked about the Winston slogan, I assumed that he remembered the Salem slogan as well. I shortened and cleaned up the original story considerably, summing up the long part about the alleged witch's sexual behavior as "loose morals". The part about the knothole was also more graphically detailed in the original version. I only left the one vulgar word in the punchline because it was essential to the outcome of the story.
I think that menthol was put into cigarettes to make them easier for women to smoke. Real men smoked Camels and cigars in those days, but they eventually got over that and joined the ladies with their filtered menthols. My dad used to smoke my mom's Salems when he had a cold or sore throat, but he eventually switched to them full time. Salems were one of the first menthol brands, but I think that Kools predated them. Every now and then there is talk of banning menthol because it allegedly makes it easier for kids to start smoking. The last time I heard of it was a year or two ago, but it didn't last long because somebody pointed out that menthols are more popular among Blacks than they are among Whites. (I am not making this up!)
I think that gun accidents on movie sets are pretty rare, but they do happen. I remember an actor who shot himself in the head with blanks while clowning around on the set during a break. Apparently he didn't know that blanks can be deadly at close range. I haven't followed the Rust case closely, but it seems that someone handed Baldwin a gun that was supposed to be unloaded and Baldwin took his word for it. I don't know what live rounds were even doing on that set but, if Baldwin knew anything about firearms, he would have checked it himself before aiming it a someone. Maybe they need to make sure that any actor who is going to handle a firearm gets some basic gun safety training beforehand.
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