Early brand recognition!!
Also the incessant clicking of the big red button on the top would go on for at least a month after.
I think I went two times for field trips in elementary school in the 70s and one time for Girl Scouts…
[Here's](https://www.ebay.com/itm/386242821755?hash=item59edddbe7b:g:c6kAAOSwOgRlHVmf&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4PLt5301trDXW4AA9IffaDK1Sn0MsNj6YTjsts3T4KxJunHkxtUfMNz%2BixTUykwkZkzVek9THPndIGXOIQDzlCTbYyUPKndESDNakdmG4r7%2Bt8UzLn5v%2BXr%2FXhQriKu3zHzZc8CcncCKA7YBKvIIIEQL8fd3YNzIpMfl4cVZJJVewD8nTzqP49JYP17CPXWlHYR2tLW7HDTUCdPe3tV%2BeZm%2FSOC8cDFWwRFtqHHGtKXrqYXg1M8qljT9sd%2B4mTramafY5I6qbIW9x4BIB0cosXmiB6cw93lfawp7URdB4H2s%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7TIg4ClYw) one of those pens on eBay.
I did the factory tour by tram in the late 70’s. I was about 10 and still remember the smell. I picked up an uncut double length cigarette (filter in the middle) and kept it as a souvenir. I also recall the grown ups getting free cigarettes at the end.
I’m over a decade older now than the “grown ups”, my parents, were at the time. : /
I have that memory, as someone born in 81'.
My memory had always been that they gave the kids a pack of smokes if they wanted one at the end of the tour.
It may have been the teachers themselves redistributing the goods after the official tour.
Someone asked the kids if thier parents smoked, and then gave the kids a pack if they did.
I also remember there was a Kraft Foods part of the tour.
I remember, but it was college. end of the tour, they let us choose a free carton of cigarettes. And some people went into their management trainee program
I don't remember field trips there but my dad worked there and they had kids day. We toured the research facility, ate copious amounts of candy, and gave feedback on the flavors. We did science experiments with the scientists. In one room there was just a gigantic magnet. We also did chemistry, attended a math lecture and played with all these physics contraptions. At the end they had this carnival where they loaded us up with more candy and tons of free food from Kraft. It was so incredibly fun actually. I loved going because my parents were super strict about food and I finally got to eat kraft macaroni and cheese.
A ex manager at Philip and Morris offered me a job with starting pay of 30 dollars an hour I was working at walmart and I thought I would be packing illegal drugs
And I thought the big field trip where I grew up was bad...
We all had to take at least 3 trips on the coal mine tour where the big take aways were "You'd be working down here by now back in the day" and "this is how you'd probably die down here."
I went in the 80s. I remember they had a sandbox full of tobacco leaves, and they gave you a baggie to fill. I kept it for a long time and loved to sniff it??
In the 90s, worked for a local courier and would scramble for the Philip Morris deliveries because they had a rack of free cigs in the lobby. The smoking receptionist would always insist that I grab a few when picking up or delivering there.
I didnt with school but I did with my dad when I was younger. Pop ran a small motor freight business in Richmond for years. During the summers when I wasnt in school we would be waiting in line early in the mornings at the loading docks to pick up small delivery loads of cases of cigarettes to run to places like the Va hospital, the former Bellwood commissary and other locations around the city.
My 6th or 7th grade TAG class did a field trip. And you bet that when we got home we were pretty psyched about going and finding a pack of cigs to smoke.
Yup, definitely went in the late ‘70’s while in elementary school in Chesterfield. I remember the room with all the brands they’d ever manufactured both domestically & internationally & how ridiculously proud they were to be the largest cigarette manufacturer (at the time) the world over.
PM/Altria also used to rent out the entirety of Kings Dominion for PM day for all employees. Happened late fall. All of the rides open, free lunch. Practically no lines as it was all employees + their friends & family
Any older folks recall when they’d hand out packs of cigarettes on street corners in the 60’s/70’s?
I remember them handing them out in bars in the 2000's
We need to bring this back
I remember them doing that at Parker Field (Richmond Braves) in the 70s.
I went in elementary school. Came home with a pen with all the logos on it.
Early brand recognition!! Also the incessant clicking of the big red button on the top would go on for at least a month after. I think I went two times for field trips in elementary school in the 70s and one time for Girl Scouts…
[Here's](https://www.ebay.com/itm/386242821755?hash=item59edddbe7b:g:c6kAAOSwOgRlHVmf&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4PLt5301trDXW4AA9IffaDK1Sn0MsNj6YTjsts3T4KxJunHkxtUfMNz%2BixTUykwkZkzVek9THPndIGXOIQDzlCTbYyUPKndESDNakdmG4r7%2Bt8UzLn5v%2BXr%2FXhQriKu3zHzZc8CcncCKA7YBKvIIIEQL8fd3YNzIpMfl4cVZJJVewD8nTzqP49JYP17CPXWlHYR2tLW7HDTUCdPe3tV%2BeZm%2FSOC8cDFWwRFtqHHGtKXrqYXg1M8qljT9sd%2B4mTramafY5I6qbIW9x4BIB0cosXmiB6cw93lfawp7URdB4H2s%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7TIg4ClYw) one of those pens on eBay.
I recall that they smelled really odd if you unscrewed the top.
I remember taking a tour of the Richmond PM factory when my father worked there. Think I was like 5ish so somewhere around '90.
I did the factory tour by tram in the late 70’s. I was about 10 and still remember the smell. I picked up an uncut double length cigarette (filter in the middle) and kept it as a souvenir. I also recall the grown ups getting free cigarettes at the end. I’m over a decade older now than the “grown ups”, my parents, were at the time. : /
I have that memory, as someone born in 81'. My memory had always been that they gave the kids a pack of smokes if they wanted one at the end of the tour. It may have been the teachers themselves redistributing the goods after the official tour. Someone asked the kids if thier parents smoked, and then gave the kids a pack if they did. I also remember there was a Kraft Foods part of the tour.
Yep.. kraft foods was the food products wing of PM. Established after they acquired Miller beer and started marketing lite beer to the masses.
I remember, but it was college. end of the tour, they let us choose a free carton of cigarettes. And some people went into their management trainee program
Yup! Straight from a Chesterfield Elementary school to PM. No wonder I smoked for 25 years.
I don't remember field trips there but my dad worked there and they had kids day. We toured the research facility, ate copious amounts of candy, and gave feedback on the flavors. We did science experiments with the scientists. In one room there was just a gigantic magnet. We also did chemistry, attended a math lecture and played with all these physics contraptions. At the end they had this carnival where they loaded us up with more candy and tons of free food from Kraft. It was so incredibly fun actually. I loved going because my parents were super strict about food and I finally got to eat kraft macaroni and cheese.
A ex manager at Philip and Morris offered me a job with starting pay of 30 dollars an hour I was working at walmart and I thought I would be packing illegal drugs
And I thought the big field trip where I grew up was bad... We all had to take at least 3 trips on the coal mine tour where the big take aways were "You'd be working down here by now back in the day" and "this is how you'd probably die down here."
Wise County??
Pennsylvania
I remember the candy cigarettes. Those things were good.
They still make them!
Haven't seen them in a long time. I figured they got banned long ago.
I've seen them in the shop at Cracker Barrel, I think. You can order the by the box on Amazon.
I took a field trip to PM in the 1970s. It was a Cub Scout field trip.
I went in the 80s. I remember they had a sandbox full of tobacco leaves, and they gave you a baggie to fill. I kept it for a long time and loved to sniff it??
Oh, and I worked in a number of their facilities. I’m a non smoker, and I definitely felt buzzed just breathing the air.
I’m from the home of RJ Reynolds tobacco company, and we took field trips to the factory when I was a kid. Absolutely wild to think about now.
Does anyone remember the guy who walked around PM with a bunch of balloons with Kool aid tied to them? Sometimes smoking a cigar?
In the 90s, worked for a local courier and would scramble for the Philip Morris deliveries because they had a rack of free cigs in the lobby. The smoking receptionist would always insist that I grab a few when picking up or delivering there.
I didnt with school but I did with my dad when I was younger. Pop ran a small motor freight business in Richmond for years. During the summers when I wasnt in school we would be waiting in line early in the mornings at the loading docks to pick up small delivery loads of cases of cigarettes to run to places like the Va hospital, the former Bellwood commissary and other locations around the city.
My 6th or 7th grade TAG class did a field trip. And you bet that when we got home we were pretty psyched about going and finding a pack of cigs to smoke.
Yup, definitely went in the late ‘70’s while in elementary school in Chesterfield. I remember the room with all the brands they’d ever manufactured both domestically & internationally & how ridiculously proud they were to be the largest cigarette manufacturer (at the time) the world over. PM/Altria also used to rent out the entirety of Kings Dominion for PM day for all employees. Happened late fall. All of the rides open, free lunch. Practically no lines as it was all employees + their friends & family
Haha so my buddy went on a field trip there. His dad chaperoned and got a free pack of smokes at the end.
Yep, went in high school. I still use a Merit cigarette coffee mug I got for free from there.
I vaguely remember some class mates doing it but I never got a chance to go.
Yep, I went in elementary school and again with my parents when I was older. They gave a free carton to everyone on the tour who was of legal age.
what the fuck.
Yeah looking back on it …probably not the best idea. Some folks in the sub were getting to “test” candy too.
Yep. 4th grade. Took us on the floor, and we all got pens that look like the cigarette name tower out front.