Growing up as a child of the 1950’s, my relationship with Cowboys and Indians seemed simple – and as I got older, I realized that it was actually fairly complicated. I had my favorites –growing up with cowboy shows like The Lone Ranger, Paladin, Gunsmoke, etc. But there were many others to choose from – Hopalong Cassidy, Sky King, Gunsmoke and many, many more…
But as I turn 75 this year, I’m reflecting on the stories of the Old West that we were “told” growing up - we were “sold” ideas of what was to be valued, who we really were, who we should be and what we should strive for – essentially defining what was acceptable.
Creativity - to me it’s still a mystery where these creative ideas come from – where does the creative spark come from? Those things that seem to help fuel creativity - sparks – ideas – visions – where will they lead your creative ideas that become something that can grow into a work that didn’t exist before – a song, a story, a painting, a Broadway musical…?
That’s what seems to have happened here – a photo that we took of a local town while we waited at a traffic light. Something about the image took me to an imaginary town from the Old West – maybe it was the sunset –but now the town has been modernized and yet still somehow retains the historical feel of a time long gone.
Then I played with a musical idea that had the flavor of a cowboy town –why cowboys and not also cowgirls I don’t know? For some reason it also made me think of the “Marlboro Man” – that old advertising campaign that had “masculine” male models dressed as cowboys smoking Marlboro cigarettes. I’ve never been a smoker myself, but I certainly took in the images from those ads.
But then I started doing some research: This from Wikipedia – “The Marlboro Man is a figure that was used in tobacco advertising campaigns for Marlboro cigarettes. In the United States, where the campaign originated, it was used from 1954 to 1999. The Marlboro Man was first conceived by advertising executive Leo Burnett in 1954. The images initially featured rugged men portrayed in a variety of roles but later primarily featured a rugged cowboy or cowboys in picturesque wild terrain. The ads were originally conceived as a way to popularize filtered cigarettes, specifically Marlboro, which since the 1920’s were marketed to women. It transformed a feminine brand carrying the slogan "Mild as May" into a masculine one in a matter of months. The image of Marlboro is very rugged, individualistic, heroic.”
I had no idea that the Marlboro cigarettes were originally marketed as a women’s cigarette in 1924 – and men seemed to stay away from the brand so as not to appear too feminine. This was quite a surprise to me - although looking back now it should not have been.
So, I started to imagine that the Marlboro Man was real, and after his advertising campaign ended in 1999, I wondered what would have happened to him – where would he go. I imagined the possibility of his going into a deep sleep, much like Rip Van Winkle, only to wake up many years later and finding his horse had been modified – maybe to an e-horse.
But then again, it’s always been about the marketing…branding… telling us/we/they who to be, what is actually acceptable…regardless of whether we are that or want to be that way. Imagine if the old tobacco marketing character, the Marlboro Man, came back to these modern times – these binary-gender times - imagine he/she/they/them riding into town on their electric-horse in search of a charging station. In the saddlebags would be various items of importance to help with the transition in time - a charging adapter, a printout of important ids and passwords, and of course, plenty of cryptocurrency.
And of course, without any identification – no license, no passport… how long would it be before he was deported by ICE.
Just random thoughts during these crazy times…...
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