- Woodbine (cigarette)
Woodbines is a brand of
cigarette made inEngland byW. D. & H. O. Wills .Noted for its strong unfiltered cigarettes, the brand was popular in the early 20th century, especially with soldiers during
World War I andWorld War II .Woodbines are commonly mentioned in literature from the early 20th-century due to their popularity. It has been sometimes suggested that the brand is now most popular among elderly smokers. This is nicely illustrated by the character Alf Bradshaw in Buzz Hawkins radio series
The Bradshaws .Fact|date=December 2007Other notable Woodbines smokers have included Tristan Farnon, brother of Siegfried Farnon, the vet in "
All Creatures Great and Small " byJames Herriot ;Jack Carter, the protagonist in Jack's Return Home by Ted Lewis only smokes Woodbines (called Woodys);George Formby , Lancastrian ukulele player and actor; Angela McCourt, mother ofFrank McCourt , author of "Angela's Ashes "; and "Carry On" actorCharles Hawtrey .George Orwell also was known to smoke Woodbines, as did the character George Bowling in his novel "Coming Up For Air ". Leonard Bast inE. M. Forster 's "Howards End " and Arthur Seaton inAlan Sillitoe 's "Saturday Night and Sunday Morning " are both Woodbines smokers, as isBert Baxter inSue Townsend 'sAdrian Mole series of novels. The brand features prominently in the novels ofRobert Rankin . Annie Doultry, the protagonist in the novel "Fan-Tan" byMarlon Brando andDonald Cammell , which is set in the nineteen-twenties, is extremely fond of this brand.The Beatles were Woodbines smokers in their early days inLiverpool, England ; managerBrian Epstein persuaded them to change brands as part of tidying their public image. (Another Liverpool notable was a West Indian club manager called Lord Woodbine.)Geoffrey Anketell Studdert Kennedy , an Anglican priest and poet was nicknamed 'Woodbine Willie ' during World War I for giving Woodbine cigarettes along with spiritual aid to injured and dying soldiers.The brand is also referenced in
Eva Dobell 's poem "Pluck"::But when the dreaded moment's there:He'll face us all, a soldier yet,:Watch his bared wounds with unmoved air,:(Though tell-tale lashes still are wet),:And smoke his Woodbine cigarette.
Sheffield United Fans also sing about 'Woodbine' Cigarettes in their terrace anthem 'The Greasy Chip Butty Song 'Blues/Jazz artist
Van Morrison mentions Woodbines in the song "Cleaning Windows ":"I went home and listened to Jimmie Rodgers in my lunch-break":"Bought five Woodbines at the shop on the corner":"And went straight back to work."The character played by
Kathy Burke , Margaret "Maggie" Munday, in the movie version ofDancing at Lughnasa was a Woodbine smoker.
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