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Memories of Navy Boot Camp & Camel Caravan Radio Show: Great Jazz Radio

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By Old Time Radio Shows

Camel Caravan: Come to the Clubhouse to enjoy Fine Tobacco and Great Jazz!

Memories of Navy Boot Camp. It should have felt like an extended vacation to be in sunny San Diego in January and February, but it was Boot Camp. We were learning important things like how to march, the proper way to wear bell-bottomed jeans, and how to carry a very heavy rifle that hadn't been in a firing condition since the late 1940s. Many hours were expended contemplating important issues, like whether or not there was a naked lady drawn into the front leg of the Camel on the cigarette package. One day one of our Petty Officers posed a question which kept the barracks buzzing for several days.

"If you were stuck in the desert on the front of the Camel cigarette package with nothing but the camel, the palm trees, and the pyramids, how would you survive?" Us Boots came up with a number of theories and guesses; of course all wrong. Sit in the shade of the palm trees? The pyramids? Drink the water from the camel's hump? All wrong.

Finally the Petty Officer let us in on the big secret. Hold up the cigarette pack from his pocket he had us all take one last look at the desert scene. "If you are caught here in the desert with no water, the solution is simple" he explained, "just get on the camel," turning the pack around, "and ride to the city on the back of the pack!" showing the Bazaar on the reverse side!

This is no place to go into the evils of big tobacco, but to report on some of the industries more entertaining marketing efforts. R.J. Reynolds launched the brand in 1913 as part of his effort to popularized packaged cigarettes. From the very beginning, marketing has been almost as big a part of Camel cigarettes as Turkish and Virginia tobacco. 

Along with the packaging artwork and print ads, Camel sponsored a number of promotions, including a circus camel named Old Joe which would be driven through cities and towns while distributing free cigarettes. In 1933 the Camel Caravan was launched featuring the Casa Loma Orchestra led by Glen Gray. In 1936 the show was repackaged as a weekly "Club Meeting" with none other than Benny Goodman and his orchestra. Johnny Mercer and Martha Tilton added vocals.

The late 30's jazz ranges from "happy toe-tapping" to "get out and swing your girl!" There is plenty of patter between the numbers, making this a great time to know Benny Goodman from before the War years.

May 2, 1939 Broadcast

Compliments of Old Time Radio
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Comments

  1. JimAugust 21, 2012 at 3:44 PM

    LOL Get a Lucky Strike regular and slice the paper away carefully with a razor blade(find one of these someplace - lol) and see what is left. Is it a cylinder of tobacco or a pile of floor sweepings? Somebody did this on their show on early TV... might have been Arthur Godfrey? I forget.

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