About the Exhibition

Welcome to the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society and the exhibition, “Big Tobacco in the Big Apple: How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry…and Anti-Smoking Activism.” There is too much to view and listen to in a single visit, so you are encouraged to explore the material over several viewings. Click on any image to enlarge it. The enlarged image will then appear as part of the gallery of images in that section, which can be viewed in its entirety by clicking the left or right arrows. To return to the section page, click anywhere around the image or on the X icon just above the image and to the right. When you click on the audio introduction in a section of the exhibition, there will be a delay of a few seconds, and you may need to click twice. Please refer to the illustrated exhibition key and the list of section headings for guidance.

All of the items in this exhibition come from the collections of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society (CSTS). A few sections, notably “Billboards,” “On the Sidewalks of New York,” and “In Transit,” are based on Dr. Alan Blum’s presentation, “A History of Cigarette Advertising in New York City” at Health Commissioner Tom Frieden’s first Tobacco Roundtable, held at Gracie Mansion on May 9, 2002. The section on “Anti-Tobacco Efforts” is based on Dr. Blum’s presentation, “Defeating Big Tobacco in the Big Apple: How New York City Became an International Model for Tobacco Control Activism,” at the 16th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, March 21, 2015, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.