>>It has been a long time since I had a blue pack of caporal ( "corporals"). I don't think they are still made in France, maybe in Poland. Our landlady in France smoked the old type and lit one off another.
>
>Way back, I was a Chesterfield man. Those Camels were too nasty for me.
>I loved every drag, but I feel each one when I try to climb a step on a stairway. Fortunately none of my kids nor grandkids has ever lit one up.

Fortunately the one daughter that doesn't live on ground floor has an elevator :). Though, truth be said, we regularly visit a guy who lives on 4th (american 5th) floor. First two times I had to take a break - two steps before the end :). Now it's a routine climb, though I still need time to return to regular breathing, but that's not as bad as those first two times.

>Regarding, bourbon, I did some TDY at Camp Breckenridge, in Morganfield KY, then home of the 101st Airborne before I headed overseas (Those poor 101 guys took terrible losses in Korea) and some of my buddies from Kentucky introduced me to the wonders of bonded Kentucky straight bourbon. Nearby Tennessee makes claims, but the best bourbons come from Ky.
>Naturally, I was partial to Old Fitzgerald, Kentucky straight bonded bourbon whiskey.

One thing that still amazes me is that y'all took to whiskey over there. Whiskey, gin and vodka are the crutches, that's grain alcohol, that's what they do in northern Europe where the fruit doesn't grow as much and as sweet (though I've tried good Schnaps in Germany, so it can be done, although perhaps not on industrial scale). But the US are so far south. Even Zrenjanin is more north than Toronto, you could grow various fruits, you have all the sunshine they need - and I've seen them grow nicely, all six trees that I saw (including a mulberry in our embassy's yard). You could have excellent brandy over there. But no, it's the lower kind, the bread brandy. Why? Too much tradition?