Chesterfield (cigarette)

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Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette made by Altria. It was one of the most recognized brands of the early 20th century, but sales have declined steadily over the years. It was named for Chesterfield County, Virginia. Chesterfield is still being made today; it is still popular in Europe, but has been absent from U.S. advertising for many years.

For many years Chesterfield cigarettes were produced by the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. In 1999, Liggett sold the L&M, Lark and Chesterfield brands to Philip Morris Companies Inc., now known as the Altria Group.

[edit] Trivia

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In a series of advertisements made many years before he took office former US President Ronald Reagan was a spokesman for Chesterfields. In one of them he is seen addressing cartons of cigarettes as Christmas gifts for "all my friends". ^[1]
Judson "Jud" Crandall, a main protagonist in Stephen King's best-selling novel; "Pet Sematary", smokes Chesterfields on many occasions throughout the book.
At one time, Chesterfield was one of the three most smoked brands of cigarettes in the United States. The non-filtered version is known for its mildness. "Tobacco too mild to filter" was a slogan used to sell them.
Chesterfield was the preferred brand of James Dean, who was known to be a heavy smoker, often taking in around 2 packs a day.
Chesterfield was also the preferred brand of Humphrey Bogart, and Lucille Ball.
Chesterfield sponsored Glenn Miller's radio show from 1939 to 1942. The show aired 3 times a week. Harry James took over when Miller joined the military in 1942.
Chesterfield was the brand of choice for legendary college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who liked to smoke underneath the goalpost prior to a game and continued to puff away as he prowled the sidelines once the game started. Current NCAA guidelines forbid the use of tobacco by any on-field personnel.
Chesterfield was the brand of choice for Philippine President Manuel L. Quezon, noted as such in various biographies.
A stolen carton of Chesterfields was featured in Jim Jarmusch's film Stranger Than Paradise.
A pack of Chesterfields is held up by John Belushi in place of a badge in the classic comedy, The Blues Brothers.
In Tony Scott's film True Romance, Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken), intending to kill Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper), offers him a Chesterfield beforehand.
There is a band from San Francisco named The Chesterfields. The members, Zach Buschman and Roman, will only smoke Chesterfields.
Chesterfield were the main sponsors of Gunsmoke on radio from 1954.
Chesterfield was featured as the sponsor on some of the Dragnet radio series.
Chesterfield's are smoked by Nick Plews of Aghast, a UK metal band
Chesterfield was featured as the sponsor on many of The Twilight Zone episodes. Rod Serling, known for his suits and for smoking during introductions, would endorse Chesterfields after some episodes with a catchy sentence ("there's no denying the smooth taste").
Chesterfield sponsored the Chesterfield Supper Club NBC radio series and television series, hosted by Perry Como.^[1]
In the 1940s, Leona Helmsley was a young model who appears in print ads for Chesterfield.^[1]
In the 1960s, print ads for Chesterfield featured color photographs of four smokers from various walks of life with the headline "Chesterfield People: They like a mild smoke, but they don't like filters."^[1]
In the late 1960s, when other brands brought out extra-long 100 millimeter length cigarettes, Chesterfield unveiled its own version under the brand name 101. The name came from the fact that it was 101 millimeters in length, 1 millimeter longer than its competitors. That fact was the basis for its advertising slogan "a silly millimeter longer", which was used in TV commercials sung to the tune of the popular Ritchie Valens song "La Bamba".
In the mid 1980's, Chesterfield was the main sponsor of certain primetime American television series shown in Argentina, such as The A-Team and Miami Vice, and presented them as "The Chesterfield Hour," or something to that effect. Each show would start with a musical Chesterfield intro.^[1]
The cover of Donald Fagen's album The Nightfly, features Fagen as a Chesterfield-smoking DJ. A packet of Chesterfields can be seen in the shot. On the track "The Nightfly", Fagen sings "I've got plenty of java and Chesterfield Kings".
In Jean-Luc Godard's film 'Breathless' (1960), Patricia Franchini (Jean Seberg) smokes Chesterfield cigarettes much to the disgust of Michel Poicard (Jean Paul Belmondo), who prefers Lucky Strikes.
Ralph Ellison cites them in his novel Invisible Man.
A song entitled "Chesterfield King" can be found on punk rock band Jawbreaker's 1992 album Bivouac.
In Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007), Stuntman Mike can be seen smoking a Chesterfield cigarette outside the convenience store in the second half of the movie.
Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thornton) is hardly seen without a Chesterfield throughout the entirety of the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There.
In Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Harvey Keitel (Mr. White) says "Have a Chesterfield" when Steve Buscemi is panicking.
Vernon Schillinger's (J.K. Simmons) father, from Oz, got lung cancer from, "too many Chesterfield's..."
In the Ian Flemming novel "Live and Let Die", James Bond says he smokes three packs of Chesterfields a day.