When I was growing up, it seemed like everybody smoked.

You’d turn on the TV to watch a movie and all the actors (and actresses) were smoking.

Even your everyday “run of the mill” shows had smokers appearing.

And in all walks of life, people smoked and they smoked anywhere and everywhere, in shops, banks, cafes, out in the open, in private but it was not condemned, it was accepted.

Not only accepted, I gather it was almost expected of you that you’d smoke.

Is it any wonder we kids smoked?

Basically, you were cool if you did, and if you didn’t, you were considered a real goody two shoes.

Now the year was 1965 and I was at primary school in Grade 4 aged nine.

I had quite a few friends and it was common knowledge that most of the boys had tried a puff or two of a cigarette or such.

I can’t seem to recall when my first puff was but I can remember my first packet of smokes.

Up the road from my Nan’s house in Geelong West was a church and I think it catered for most denominations except Catholic.

But it was on a large block that included a very nice home and at the back was a large building.

That building was a multi purpose facility, firstly it was a Kindergarten, I went there myself in I think 1960.

It also served as a Sunday School and again, I trundled along there at times because they gave you a whole heap of goodies.

It was also the local Scout Hall and included in that was the Cubs, the Girl Guides and the Brownies.

Out the back was a tennis court, not in the best of condition but I gather in its prime, it was where the Church tennis matches/tournaments were played.

And it had what was an open shelter shed that doubled as the “grandstand”, complete with bum-breaking wooden seats.

Naturally there was a toilet block with two lots of two toilets, Ladies and Gents.

It seemed that everyone that frequented that area smoked.

I recall that after Sunday School one day, I went out the back way, the tennis court was on Lupton St and that was where my Nan lived, so it was quicker going out that way.

And sitting out the back having a smoke was our teacher, I figured she was probably late teens or early twenties.