So I guess I should have done a bit more research, like Tod did, and yes, I think the New York Times is a more reliable source than wikipedia.  If you do a Joe Camel search in the Times archive, you'll find hundreds of articles about the US Government taking on RJR with regard to advertising ciggies to children.   You'll also find a few which detail Joe Camel's origins, which evidently did not begin on Long Island in the 1950s. According to the Times:  Joe Camel was actually born in Europe. The caricatured camel was created in 1974 by a British artist, Nicholas Price, for a French advertising campaign that subsequently ran in other countries in the 1970's. Indeed, Mr. O'Toole recalled a visit to France many years ago during which he glimpsed Joe Camel wearing a Foreign Legion cap. The inspiration behind Mr. Price's cartoon was the camel, named Old Joe, that has appeared on all Camel packages since the brand's initial appearance in 1913..Joe Camel first appeared in this country in 1988, in materials created for the 75th anniversary of the Camel brand by Trone Advertising. Trone is a small agency in Greensboro, N.C., that Reynolds uses on various advertising and promotional projects.