Dion and fellow Bronx idols

Dion and fellow Bronx idols

Just a personal photo that Dion posted to his Facebook page, showing him with Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. Dion aged much better than the Yankee greats. He's only 8 years younger than Mick.

Mickey fans: cleanse the palate with these images of Mickey in his youth.

That page linked above includes ads of Mickey pushing both Viceroys and Camels at different times. Those brands were competitors back then. Viceroy was a B&W brand, while Camels had always been produced by R.J. Reynolds. These days those two brands, as well as many others you remember from American pop culture of earlier times, are veddy English. British American Tobacco exercises control over both brands. The UK firm owns the Viceroy name, as well as such familiar old-time American brands as Kent, Lucky Strike and Pall Mall. While BAT doesn't actually own the Camel brand, R.J. Reynolds is now a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., which in turn is 42% owned by BAT.

By the way, a former Viceroy smoker, "the man who thinks for himself," will undoubtedly be thrilled to know that the brand is now produced in North Korea out of BAT's Singapore division.

But you can still remember a different time: "As your dentist, I would recommend Viceroys."