It seems inconceivable now, but until about the mid-1960s it was quite common to see celebrities hawking cigarettes like it was no big deal. In fact, many radio, TV, and movie stars literally owed their livelihood to sponsorship from tobacco companies. Imagine seeing someone like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie smiling widely in cigarette ads exhorting you to pick up a carton of Marlboro. Weird, isn’t it?

Anyway, here’s a gallery of 20 such ads from the 1930s through the early 1960s featuring movie and TV stars, as well as famous athletes, using their star power to get you to buy cigarettes and cigars. Most of these ads are courtesy the Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising site.

Bing Crosby for Chesterfield, 1944

Anne Sheridan for Chesterfield, 1947

Ronald Reagan for Chesterfield, 1948

Barbara Stanwyck for L&M, undated

Basil Rathbone for Fatima, 1949

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz for Philip Morris, 1951

Ed Sullivan for Chesterfield, 1953

Frank Gifford for Lucky Strike, 1962

Frank Sinatra for Chesterfield, 1957

Hank Aaron for Camel, 1962

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart for Robert Burns, 1948

Jack Webb for Chesterfield, 1953

Jesse Owens for White Owl, 1960

Joan Crawford for Chesterfield, 1950

Joe DiMaggio for Camel, 1941

Joe Louis for Chesterfield, 1944

Laurel and Hardy for Old Gold, 1937

Paul Hornung for Marlboro, 1962

Sam Snead for Lucky Strike, 1954

Spencer Tracy for Lucky Strike, 1938

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