On the “Camel Caravan” and Related Expeditions

The R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was incorporated on this day in 1890. I’m not here to celebrate or endorse their product, but RJR did leave a camel print in the shifting sands of show business and that’s where we cast our field glasses this morning.

Perhaps even more diabolical than the addictive pull of nicotine are the mirage-like mind tricks wrought by branding. One day it hit me that perhaps the most Anglo-centric, overtly British worshipping cul-de-sac in American culture is represented by cigarette brands: Parliament, Pall Mall, Marlboro, Raleigh, Kent, Chesterfield, Winston. A selective list, but you perceive my point. This arises from the origins of the tobacco industry in Virginia and the Carolinas, the names of which are also reminders of the Mother Country. (Virginia after the Virgin Queen Elizabeth, and the Carolinas for the first King Charles.) In the cases of both the States and the cigarettes, few if any in America think about the meaning or the origin of those names any more. This is what I mean by diabolic. If I mention some of these names to you and your first thought is of cigarettes and NOT the governing body of Great Britain (Parliament) or Sir Walter (Raleigh), something’s kind of screwy, is it not? A perversion of significance and meaning.

I bring that instance up, however to talk about an American cigarette brand that broke the older tradition of referencing English people and place names. We start with the obvious historical fact, though one that’s probably not universally known, that the practice of smoking was not widespread in America until after the First World War. Prior to that, it was fashionable only in some quarters, and practiced almost entirely by men. The vast majority of the population disapproved of it, for the same reasons as people do now, the obvious ones. But in the late 19th century cigarette rolling machines were invented, and they began to be mass produced on a much greater scale (cigarettes and cigars had been hand-rolled prior to this).

This goes to the necessary historical detail that in the early days of the industry, when smokers were mostly rich people and bohemians, the market was very much dominated by imports from Egypt. This was the days of the Ottoman Empire. The tobacco was Turkish, the entrepreneurs were mostly Greek, the manufacture was largely done in Egypt, all part of the same cultural sphere. The branding to western markets all emphasized this eastern exoticism. There had been a vogue in the west for Egyptology since the time of Napoleon. Part of the same phenomenon was the Washington Monument (an obelisk), begun 1848, competed 1888; and the gal who introduced “belly dancing” at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, “Little Egypt”. In the early 20th century, archaeological discoveries fueled this fad even more, and it began to influence architecture and pop culture on an increasing scale. (The vaudeville team of Gallagher and Shean were dressed in “Egyptian” attire, for example).

World War One finished the Ottoman Empire, however. The Egyptian cigarette industry fell apart. And, as of 1913, there was another factor. The appearance of this:

R.J. Reynolds’ new domestically produced cigarette brand mimicked the packaging of the fashionable and expensive Egyptian cigarettes, but were much cheaper to buy. The model for the animal depicted on the package was a creature in the menagerie of the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus, you’ll be interested to know. (The universally reviled and short-lived “Joe Camel” did not emerge until 1987. Yes, that late!) That slogan “I’d walk a mile for a camel” evokes the traversing of long desert distancing, with smoke rather than water at your oasis. (Groucho Marx riffed on the slogan in Horse Feathers).

Then, as part of that campaign, in 1933 RJ Reynolds launched their radio show, The Camel Caravan, which you have to admit is one of the best brand-related show names in the history of broadcasting. A variety show, as a chain of performances, has the same structure as a caravan or convoy. For once the metaphor in the title actually fits and makes sense. The show ran until 1954, and showcased some of the nation’s singers, musicians, and comedians. The original line-up of regulars included Glen Gray and his Casa Lama Orchestra (featuring singer Deane Janis), Walter O’Keefe, and the team of Stoopnagle and Budd. Later came the bands of Benny Goodman, Xavier Cugat; and others, singers like Bob Crosby, Martha Tilton, and Johnny Mercer; comedians like Jack Oakie, Herb Shriner, Abbott and Costello, Garry Moore, and Mel Blanc; and all around entertainers like Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, and Jack Carson.

Interestingly, Camel’s television incarnation of the concept (1949-1956) was not an entertainment program but a news broadcast, The Camel News Caravan a.k.a. Camel Caravan of News, anchored by John Cameron Swayzie, later associated with Timex.

Another RJ Reynolds cigarette brand, Pall Mall, also sponsored a broadcast program. The Big Story launched on radio in 1947 and on tv two years later. This show dramatized spectacular real life stories from the pages of American newspapers. It was basically like the kind of reality series we still watch, with emphasis on re-enactments. The radio series ran until 1955, with Lucky Strike taking over sponsorship in 1953. The TV show went until 1957.

For more on show biz history, please consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and watch for my upcoming Electric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.