Helen Hasty recalled the clouds of smoke that billowed around the big tent behind the lodge in the early forties.

(“Smoke virtually rolled out of the couselors’ smoking tent!”) Some years smoking was no big deal and other years, the directors warned the counselors about smoking on the premises.

Lucille Greenwald (1947-50) had the same memory of the counselors sleeping in the tent behind the lodge and the girls were never allowed to go back there. “We would see some of them with bandaid boxes in their pockets, which had cigarettes in them and we thought it was terribly risqué.”

“I do remember the counselors had a tent behind the screened porch at the back of the lodge, where they would smoke their cigarettes and talk about the “ugly” (uncooperative) campers,” said Geraldine Folkert (1942-47), who learned to smoke at camp at the age of sixteen and became a social smoker.

Carla Schweinsberg (1945-52) was relieved not to be part of the round-up of naughty girls who got caught smoking in the bushes. Anne Obey believed the walks she took to smoke cigarettes was the most scandalous thing she did in the sixties, but admitted she never wanted to disappoint her director and they never smoked on canoe trips.Many girls had their first puff on a cigarette during their camping years, including Maureen Moore (1968-70), who indulged as a kitchen aide, but never smoked outside of camp. Barb Rehmus (1965-76) also had her first at camp because everybody smoked and it was still an acceptable activity.

“I did love hanging out with the older girls, especially the ones in college,” admitted Laurie Cone, who had her first cigarette with them in the sixties. “Everyone had a shelf in the staff cottage where they kept their cigarettes. I thought it was cool to hang out with them and kept in touch all winter until I saw them the following year.”

“The year I was a kitchen aide was a blast and it was a fun transition from camper to counselor,” said Priscilla Johns (1968+)  Doris’ family had been transferred to Switzerland, so I really missed her that year. But we had Diller and Horner and one of the Gotleib girls with me in the kitchen and there were a lot of long time campers. It was a coming of age summer for me. We were kind of in with the staff and we felt like we were close and they let us smoke. I think I had my first cigarette at camp. I finally was the grown up,” she laughed. “The counselors would be on duty, as they called it, after the campers would go to bed. We would be shushing the restless campers and watching for predators by the campfire, to make sure no one was around. If you weren’t on patrol, then you were up at the lodge. We always made sure we didn’t smoke around the campers, though.”

Carolyn Stanton (1947) got in trouble as a C.I.T. when she and another girl snuck Pall Mall cigarettes into their footlockers. “I can recall Sue Vaupre totally disapproved of us smoking. I don’t even know how we got them as ninth graders, but we were chastised.”

Karen Kaunitz and Sally Harris (1945+) snuck off to a hill to smoke a cigarette in the last year they were there. “All of a sudden, a counselor appeared and Sally put that cigarette right out in the palm of her hand! We didn’t get caught because we were outside! What a calamity! She got me smoking because she had older siblings and we had our first cigarette in Sally’s garage. Such wonderful times!”

“How stupid could we be? They knew we were sneaking,” laughed Margot Behrman (1946-52), who recalled lighting up after the lights were out.

Did you have your first cigarette at camp?

 

 

 

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