An advertisement for cigarettes took out a large chunk of The Canberra Times' front page on this day in 1972, in a true sign of the times.
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Claridge was marketing its tobacco to readers with what it might have called 'fun' facts.
Firstly, it asked: "Which is the biggest coral reef in the world?" The answer: "Stretching some 1250 miles along the Queensland coast ... Australia's Great Barrier Reef."
Next, it named Melbourne Cricket Ground as the world's largest, before it gave the selling line: "Which is the biggest value in cigarettes today?"
"Claridge - a better taste in a bigger cigarette at 44 cents," the ad said.
It came many years before cigarette advertising was banned in Australian newspapers.
Direct cigarette advertising was phased out for television and radio between 1973 and 1976, but 'accidental or incidental' broadcasting was allowed to continue.
The Smoking and Tobacco Products Advertisements (Prohibition) Act was passed on December 28, 1989, and banned print media from advertising cigarettes.
