Laika (cigarette)

Laika (Russian: Лайка) was a Soviet brand of cigarettes, which was manufactured by various Soviet tobacco companies, but most notably the "Tabachnaya Fabrika Dukat Moscow" and the "Tabachnaya Fabrika No.1 Leningrad".[1][2] The brand was named after the dog Laika who was the first animal launched in space by the USSR on 3 November 1957.

Laika
An old Soviet pack of Laika cigarettes.
Product typeCigarette
Produced byVarious Soviet tobacco factories, including Tabachnaya Fabrika Dukat Moscow and the Tabachnaya Fabrika No.1 Leningrad
CountrySoviet Union
Introduced1957 (1957)
Discontinued1990s
MarketsSee Markets

History

Laika cigarettes were created in 1957 as an honour to Laika the dog.[3][4][5] The cigarettes were produced under supervision of the Ministry of Food Industry, in honor of the flight. When the American Lockheed U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers was shot down over Sverdlovsk, USSR on May 1, 1960 (which would later come to be known as the 1960 U-2 incident), he was offered a Laika by one of the villagers who picked him up on the ground. "A filter cigarette, it tasted very much like its American counterparts," Powers wrote in his 1970 memoir, Operation Overflight. "There was a package of Kents in my flight-suit pocket. I left them there." he wrote.[6] The cigarettes were mainly sold in the Soviet Union, but they were also sold in the United Kingdom, the People's Republic of Bulgaria and Finland as Duty Free variants.[1][2]

A few TV advertisements were made for Laika cigarettes.[5][7]

It is unknown when the brand was discontinued, but it is speculated that Laika cigarettes were ended when the dissolution of the Soviet Union happened. It is known however, that the cigarettes were sold up until the 1980s.[2]

Packaging

The pack is a mixture of blue and white, featuring the dog Laika on the front of the pack with underneath the word "Лайка" ("Laika") written in Russian, as well as the Sputnik 2, the Hammer and sickle which is placed on the rocket she was in, the Moon and various stars, representing space. The back features a message that is written in Russian, as well as a seal of approval, the date the pack was created, the amount of cigarettes in the pack (20) and the words "Made in U.S.S.R." written in English.

Markets

Laika was mainly sold in the Soviet Union, but also was or still is sold in the United Kingdom, Finland and the People's Republic of Bulgaria.[1][2][8]

gollark: You'd be better off just selling elytra directly to buyers.
gollark: They don't.
gollark: Maybe sell at 1KST?
gollark: The sell shop does at least pay more than that stupidly low value.
gollark: Square prism.

See also

References
  1. "BrandLajka - Cigarettes Pedia". www.cigarettespedia.com.
  2. "Laika". www.zigsam.at.
  3. "Stubbed out: the 21 most iconic cigarette packets of all time". telegraph.co.uk.
  4. Wild, Chris. "How the Soviet Union Honored the Dogs That Conquered Space". mashable.com.
  5. Classic Airliners & Vintage Pop Culture (2 December 2009). "Classic Commercial - "Laika Cigarettes" - 1957" – via YouTube.
  6. "Papers, Please: Stalin-Brand Cigarettes and Other Police State Smokes". justinrohrlich.net. 17 August 2014.
  7. MrPazarium (7 October 2010). "LAIKA" – via YouTube.
  8. "Brands". www.cigarety.by.
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