If the cougher in the 4th row will come to the stage door. There's a carton of Old Golds waiting for him!
Vaudeville comedian W.C. Fields (1880-1946) endorses Old Golds in this advertisement. He jokes that he sometimes feels like saying, “If the cougher in the 4th row will come to the stage door…there’s a carton of Old Golds waiting for him!” when he is delivering a performance on stage. He claims that he is simply giving his fans “friendly counsel” concerning the “smooth and throat-easy cigarette.” Fields debuted on Broadway in 1906 and performed in a number of the Ziegfeld Follies revues. He also starred in films and was considered a movie star after he began starring in movies for Paramount Pictures in 1934. He often played drunk characters, and began drinking heavily himself later in life. By 1936, Fields was unable to continue acting regularly due to illness, likely brought on by his alcoholism, and delirium tremens, shakes caused by alcohol withdrawal. When Fields passed away from a stomach hemorrhage due to alcoholism in 1946, he had spent over three consecutive weeks in the hospital and had been a patient for over 22 months.
Cough, Health, Throat
