Summary
Overview
In this episode, the hosts explore fascinating facts about unconventional solutions and historical quirks, from lettuce cigarettes designed to help people quit smoking in the 1960s, to an eight-year traffic jam in Egypt's Suez Canal during wartime, a town literally called 'Neversink' that was intentionally sunk to create a reservoir, and the bizarre international regulations requiring sunscreen to be tested on animals in America but banned from such testing in Europe.
Lettuce Cigarettes: The Anti-Smoking Innovation That Never Caught On
In 1965, a New Jersey inventor named Puzant Turidjian created cigarettes made entirely from dried and cured lettuce as a way to help people quit smoking. The product, called Bravo cigarettes, was marketed as tasting similar to tobacco but without the addictive nicotine or harmful tar. Despite the inventor's good intentions and attempts to relaunch the product multiple times, the cigarettes were reportedly terrible, with one researcher comparing them to 'smoking a potato' and another saying they'd prefer being punched in the head.
- Puzant Turidjian created Bravo cigarettes made from lettuce after opening his fridge and choosing the first thing he found
- The inventor chose lettuce specifically because it was the first thing in his fridge, and the name 'Bravo' came from his Italian wife's immediate reaction
- Turidjian filed a patent to turn any leafy green into cigarettes and experimented with carrot tops, tomato tops, cabbage, grape leaves, and even poisonous rhododendrons
- The cigarettes went out of business in the late 1960s after an acrimonious lawsuit with General Nutrition, then relaunched in 1997 with enzyme-treated lettuce and lasted until 2010
- Reviewers said the cigarettes tasted like 'smoking a potato' and one person said they'd prefer being punched in the head rather than smoke one
" One researcher said that they were like smoking a potato and another said if I had a choice for punching the head or one of these cigarettes I would take the punch in the head. "
" He chose lettuce because it was the first thing he found in his fridge when he opened it. "
Creative Anti-Smoking Methods Through History
Beyond lettuce cigarettes, inventors and individuals have tried numerous creative approaches to help people quit smoking. These range from practical devices like cigarette cases with built-in record players that play coughing sounds, to extreme personal measures like a Turkish man who locked his head in a cage and gave the keys to his family. The 1980s also saw the Superman-endorsed 'Nick O'Teen' campaign targeting children, which recruited 800,000 British children to sign anti-smoking pledges.
- In 1972, Lewis Topple patented a cigarette case with a mini record player that plays desperate coughing sounds whenever opened
- Turkish man Ibrahim Yusel wore a locked cage around his head daily, with keys held by his wife and daughter, only removing it for supervised meals
- The 1980s 'Nick O'Teen' campaign featured Superman's arch enemy trying to recruit children to his army of smokers, with 800,000 British children requesting anti-smoking packs
- Superman's reason for not smoking was explained as his x-ray vision allowing him to see the damage to lungs
" Every day he would wake up and put a big cage around his head, lock it up and give the keys to his wife and daughter so he was only ever allowed the cageless head at meals. "
📚 9 more sections below
Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes
Get this summary + all future No Such Thing As A Fish episodes in your inbox
100% Free • Unsubscribe Anytime
Sign up now and we'll send you the complete summary of this episode, plus get notified when new No Such Thing As A Fish episodes are released—delivered straight to your inbox within minutes.