Readers Respond: CB Vaughan, tobacco advertising

I especially enjoyed the March-April issue for two reasons. First, I opened the cover and was greeted by a scene I know well: the background shot of the Gorsuch ranch in Colorado. I have sat on those red Adirondack chairs. A truly beautiful place! Then I got to the last pages and found a photo that I also knew well, the obituary for CB Vaughn, so well written by Bill Post. As I read it, I recognized that I also had an unusual connection to him. When I first met CB, his claim to fame was that he held the world speed-skiing record at Portillo, Chile. Then, when I was the skiwear buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue, he came and showed me his side-zip warmup pants and said,
“You have to buy these pants—they’re SUPER!” And I did buy them. So, I guess I was one of his first customers and eventually one of his last at Ski Market!

Sheila Whitman 
Vail, Colorado

Sportswashing Hits a Home Run

To Jay Cowan’s piece on “Cigarettes and Skiing” (July-August 2025), I’ll add another early example of tobacco sportswashing: baseball cards. One of the most valuable collectibles is the Honus Wagner card, inserted into packs of cigarettes by the American Tobacco Company from 1909–1911. Legend has it that Wagner put the kibosh on production because he was against promoting tobacco to children. Some speculate that his opposition was more about exploiting what today is commonly known as his name, image and likeness. Whatever the motivation, the result was the creation of a rare artifact. Only 50 or 60 Honus Wagner cards are estimated to exist. One sold for $6.6 million in August 2021, a record for sports memorabilia until a Mickey Mantle rookie card sold for $12.6 million a year later. 

Ron Rudolph
Fairfield, Connecticut