This advertisement claims that Chicago prefers Old Golds to the other leading cigarette brands. Robert Ripley (1890-1949), creator of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” presents the information, which is supposed to give the results authority. In this “concealed name” cigarette test, each of the four leading brands has a “mask” wrapped over its brand name on the cigarette paper, so the smoker cannot see which brand is which. The public accountants hired by Old Gold print the results gathered from among 1107 Chicagoans. The ad appeals mostly to blue-collar workers, but also to upper-class citizens. The majority of the photographic real estate is given to the “stockyards cow-punchers,” those men who worked in the famous and world-renowned Chicago Stockyard, one of the largest meat packing districts in the entire world at the time. According to Ripley, they choose Old Golds. A smaller image depicts four Chicago policemen, nicknamed “Chicago’s husky army of gangland fighters,” noting Chicago’s notoriety for its gangsters, including Al Capone, and its gangland wars. The police officers also chose Old Golds. Lastly, influential Chicago figures, including Wrigley himself, gather in the Wrigley Building with Ripley to take the test. Of course, they, too, choose Old Gold. Mr. Ripley passed away from heart failure at the age of 59.
Cough, Health, Throat
