I was reading the "Smoking Discussion" thread previously and remembered a point that had been made in another thread where the subject of smoking had been touched on, and thought this, too, deserved its own thread.
In years gone by, before the banning of smoking in the workplace, large numbers of people smoked at worked and elsewhere, such as shops, restaurants, pubs, and obviously at gigs and concerts. Indeed at one time a majority of people smoked. Now the situation is reversed; the majority do not smoke, and agree with recent measures that have been taken.
Recently a photo was posted on the forum in which someone was smoking, an a forum member removed the offending weed and reposted it. Also, I have seen the famous photo of Robert Johnson with the ciggy Photoshopped out, and the equally famous 'zebra crossing' Beatles pic with Macca's fag similarly exorcised. But are these expurgations are a good idea?
It seems to me, that this is an example of rewriting history. Perhaps most of us these days do disapprove of the dreaded coffin nails, but is this the thin end of the wedge? And if so, where will it all end? After all, if we don't truthfully represent the past as it was, people will never know how much progress has been made.