Elegance and Sophistication
Prior to the widespread adoption of cigarettes, tobacco was either chewed or smoked in cigars, or pipes. The cigarette was considered feminine, an association that would fade with the distribution of cigarettes to soldiers in World War I
By the 1930s tobacco companies were giving women equal smoking rights. By the 1940s even children and babies were shown in cigarette advertisements.
“CAMEL PLEASURE TO BURN”
Magazine centerfold advertisement by RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
2001
Women appeared in many advertisements for products and services of the late 19th century and the early 20th centuries. The first cigarette cards (forerunners of baseball cards) were printed in the 1870s and featured images of actresses and singers. This early card from a pack of Goodwin & Co.’s Welcome cigarettes depicts a broom-toting woman with partially bared legs wearing a Phrygian cap, a symbol of liberty.
“MILD AND SWEET: WELCOME CIGARETTES…ESPECIALLY CHOSEN ON ACCOUNT OF THE SMALL PERCENTAGE OF NICOTINE”
Advertising card for Goodwin and Company, New York City
1870s
“If they are telling the women they must not smoke in public they should tell the men not to also. It is perfectly ridiculous. Women should not be discriminated against in any way.”
Mary Garrett Hay, Head of the New York City League of Women Voters, 1908
In 1908 the New York City Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance that prohibited smoking by women in public. Only one person was prosecuted under the ordinance, Katie Mulcahey, who was arrested and jailed for one day for refusing to pay a $5 fine. The ordinance was vetoed by Mayor George B. McClellan. A second attempt to ban smoking by women was made in 1922. Source: The History Guy. See the video below on www.history.com.
Video: “When New York Banned Women Smoking in Public” (17:41)
The History Guy
www.The HistoryGuy.com
Accessed 2022
“Having Saved Women From Cigarettes, Will Little Tim Now Rescue Them From Cocktails?”
Cartoon from The Evening World, January 24, 1908.
“NO PUBLIC SMOKING BY WOMEN NOW” (click on the image to read the entire article)
Front-page headline in The New York Times, January 21, 1908.
“SMOKING IN PUBLIC BARRED FOR WOMEN; POLICE ENFORCE LAW” (click on the image to read the entire article)
Article from The New York Times, March 28, 1922.
To learn more about smoking in New York City visit our exhibition: Big Tobacco in the Big Apple How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry …and Anti Smoking Activism
Can you imagine the Marlboro Man with a manicure? Marlboro began as a luxury cigarette sold in fine hotels and targeted to women. Early advertisements for Marlboro in the 1920s included slogans such as “The Cigarette of Distinction,” “Mild as May,” and “Red Tips to Match Your Pretty Lips” (and to hide lipstick stains).
“Marlboro Cigarettes: A Cigarette for Those Who Can Afford 20¢ for the Best”
Retail store sign for Philip Morris’ Marlboro cigarettes
Circa 1926
“Open the handbag of any nowadays girl between the ages of fifteen and fifty. Rummage your way through a few dozen things you find there.
“What’s this?
“A cigarette!
“Two out of five have them—in the big cities a larger proportion.
“Approximately 3,400,000 miles of cigarettes were smoked in the United States during the twelve months that ended with June 30, 1926. Women inhaled about 510,000 of these miles, or about 15 per cent of all the cigarette tobacco puffed away inn the period.
“The cigarette bill of our nation for the year was about $688,000,000. Of this the ladies contributed some $103,200,000.
“And they did it of their own volition. The cigarette makers do not advertise for the women’s trade.
“You’d think that with that much cash hanging around loose there’d be considerably more available with a little bit of printer’s ink impulse to stir it into circulation.
“Yet it isn’t done. Why?
“We will borrow a breakfast-food slogan: There’s a reason.
“Because of the past experience and what happened to the licensed liquor business, the cigarette manufacturers do not dare to advertise outright to women, although they admit that the latter now constitute a very important part of the cigarette-smoking public. One of the biggest men in the industry, who does not want his name mentioned for the reason that the makers do not advertise to the fair sex openly, very candidly admitted to me that they are looking forward to the time when they may make a direct appeal–even now are ready.
“‘But not just now,’ he declared. ‘The manufacturers fear that they may draw the lightning of the busybody element that brought about prohibition…whose lives are incomplete unless they are stage-managing the lives and actions of all the rest of us…’
“…Almost every other kind of advertising is aimed at…the feminine public. But the cigarette people are frankly afraid of stirring up the reformers and bringing down upon themselves a lot of nuisance legislation.
“Call to mind any established slogans, and, with one exception, you will not find any with a feminine flavor. Then odd one I have in mind is that which is used to popularize the Marlboro: ‘Mild as May.’ I do not know if this is a direct play for women by suggesting that the cigarette will not bite their tongues or prove harmful to their health, but it might easily be the case…”
“Why Cigarette Makers Don’t Advertise to Women”
Article by Lin Bonner
Advertising and Selling
October 20, 1926
“MARLBORO MAKERS FIRST TO ADVERTISE DIRECTLY TO WOMEN”
News article
United States Tobacco Journal
January 29, 1927
“Following close upon the statement of George W. Hill, president of the American Tobacco Co….to the effect that the rapidly increasing custom of smoking by women will shortly lead to advertising directly to them by some cigarette manufacturer, comes the announcement by Philip Morris & Co. that the first cigarette ad addressed to the female smoker in this country has appeared in the February issue of Bon Ton Fashion magazine a woman’s publication.
“…In making this move, the makers of Marlboro…have carried the fight directly into the enemy’s camp. While women are now commonly admitted to be consumers of enormous quantities of cigarettes, his particular feature of the tobacco question has been so hotly attack by the antis that illustrations published merely editorially, showing a woman smoking a cigarette or holding one in her hand, have been followed immediately after publication by letters of protest to the editor. They are usually answered by the editor with the statement that the illustration merely reflects the trend of the times.
“In recent billboard and newspaper and magazine advertisements cigarette ads have sometimes been accompanied by the picture of a woman but never have manufacturers permitted their artists to show one actually smoking or holding a cigarette. So the Marlboro as which already has been seen by thousands of women is a far stride ahead in advertising cigarettes for female consumption…”
Advertisement below from VOGUE, November 1, 1926: “In One Short Year MARLBORO Cigarettes have found a place of honor in pockets and handbags of leaders in almost every club and community in the United States.”
“Mrs. Rufus Paine Spalding III”
Magazine advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Camel cigarettes
1937
“‘YOU’RE RIGHT, DIANNA, THOSE BETTER TOBACCOS IN CAMELS ARE MILDER…'”
Magazine advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
Circa 1935
“Switch to Camels…Never parched or toasted”
Magazine advertisement fby R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1932
“‘You like them FRESH? So do I!'”
Advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Camel cigarettes
The Saturday Evening Post
February 6, 1932
“WORLD’S CHAMPION HIGH-DIVER DOROTHY POYNTON HILL…FOR DIGESTION’S SAKE, SMOKE CAMELS”
Newspaper advertisement by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company
1937
“QUEEN OF THE HIGH TOWER, OLYMPIC DIVING ACE ‘COOKY’ GLISSEN”
Newspaper advertisement in Sunday funnies section by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for Camel cigarettes
Circa 1935
“A Glorious Combination”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
July 1939
“After a Man’s Heart…When smokers find out the good things Chesterfields give them”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
1937
“…and my new cigarette is Chesterfield”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
1938
“By the way…”
Advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
The Saturday Evening Post
1933
“As we go along…”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Chesterfield cigarettes
1934
“‘I’d rather have a Chesterfield'”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company
Collier’s Magazine
1931
“Of course it’s a Fatima – ‘Nothing else will do.’”
Magazine advertisement by Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company for Fatima cigarettes
1921
Fatima was one of the most popular cigarettes among soldiers in World War I.
(Link to the Center’s exhibition, “The Makin’s of a Nation: Tobacco and World War I”)
“Such dependable quality at home or abroad–Craven ‘A’ never vary”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company for Craven ‘A’ cigarettes
The Illustrated London News
October 21, 1936
“Craven ‘A’ Will not affect your throat.”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company
The Illustrated London News
July 15, 1939
“You can always trust Craven ‘A’ quality! They are so smooth and kind to your throat.”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company
The Hitch
October 26, 1938
“Those who smoke Craven ‘A’ seldom care for other cigarettes.”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company
The Illustrated London News
September 30, 1950
“Tasting’s believing!”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company for Craven ‘A’ cigarettes
The Illustrated London News
December 8, 1928
“Les cigarettes Craven ‘A’ n’irritent jamais ma gorge–leur doucer est remarqable!”
(“Craven ‘A’ cigarettes never irritate my throat. Their mildness is remarkable!”)
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company
L’Illustration
July 30, 1938
“…her reputation as a hostess is well deserved…”
Advertisement by Carreras Tobacco Company for Craven ‘A’ cigarettes
The Illustrated London News
May 11, 1935
Three cigarette-brand sponsored blank restaurant menus from Mexico featuring images of Latina women
Circa 1920s
“Her Throat Insured For $50,000.”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1938
“Consider Your Adam’s Apple!!”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1931
“You Need This Throat Protection Too!”
Advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1937
“Don’t Rasp Your Throat With Harsh Irritants”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1931
“Sunshine Mellows Heat Purifies”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1931
“Sunshine Mellows Heat Purifies”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1931
“Light A Lucky and you’ll never miss sweets that make you fat”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1929
“Each Puff Less Acid”
Newspaper advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1936
“‘Reach for a Lucky and not for a Sweet.'”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1928
“‘No Sweets–Light a Lucky Instead”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1929
“‘I do'”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1933
SMOKING BANNS
See more advertisements featuring brides and grooms in our exhibition Wedded to Smoking
“‘Oh! You Lucky Tab!!
Newspaper advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1931
“’Nature in the Raw is seldom MILD’ THE RAID ON THE SABINE WOMEN”
Newspaper advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1932
“Alice Roosevelt Longworth says: ‘They’re a light smoke, kind to the throat.”
Back cover advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
LIFE Magazine
April 12, 1937
“Amelia Earhart–‘Lucky Strikes were the cigarette carried on the “Friendship” when she crossed the Atlantic’…”
Magazine advertisement by the American Tobacco Company
October 1928
Movie Stars
In the first two decades of the 20th century, cigarette smoking became one of the great unifying elements of society. Movies were becoming the top entertainment medium, and on the screen people from every walk of life were enjoying cigarettes. Tobacco companies soon enlisted the top movie stars of the day to endorse their cigarette brands. The film industry grew up together with the tobacco industry, aided by their advertising and public relations allies.
One advertisement for Tuxedo cigarettes featured over 50 actors including Charlie Chaplin. Two starlets, Bebe Daniels and Ina Claire, swooned for men who smoked Tuxedo pipe tobacco.
Learn more about smoking and the silver screen in our exhibition Smoking In The Balcony Only: When Movie Stars Sold Cigarettes
“‘The fragrance of pipe tobacco makes me wish I were a man’ – Bebe Daniels”
Advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Tuxedo pipe tobacco
The Saturday Evening Post
February 20, 1926
“‘I like to see a man smoke a pipe…’ – Ina Claire”
Advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Tuxedo pipe tobacco
The Saturday Evening Post
January 23, 1926
Torches of Freedom…
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote and heralded the first wave of women’s liberation in the United States. Public relations pioneer Edward Bernays would give women their equal smoking rights in the 1920s.
His first cigarette campaign was for Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company’s Chesterfield cigarettes, which featured claims by opera singers that Chesterfields were “kind” to their voices. To increase sales of the American Tobacco Company’s Lucky Strike cigarettes, Bernays created a campaign that suggested Luckies helped keep smokers from gaining weight–for example, “Avoid that Future Shadow” and “To keep a slender figure, reach for Lucky instead of a sweet.” The campaign was successful, even though it was still considered risque for women to smoke in public. In 1929 Bernays challenged this convention by paying a group of women to smoke while walking in New York City’s fashionable Easter Parade.
“Because it should appear as news with no division of the publicity,” he wrote, “actresses should be definitely out. On the other hand, if young women who stand for feminism—someone from the Women’s Party, say—could be secured, the fact that the movement would be advertised too, would not be bad. . . . While they should be good looking, they should not be too ‘model-y.’ Three for each church covered should be sufficient. Of course, they are not to smoke simply as they come down the church steps. They are to join in the Easter parade, puffing away.”
“Women Are Free!”
Newspaper advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
1929
“AN ANCIENT PREJUDICE HAS BEEN REMOVED”
Advertisement by the American Tobacco Company for Lucky Strike cigarettes
TIME Magazine
1929
“Edward L. Bernays, with his wife, Doris E. Fleischman, aboard the SS Mauretania”
Photograph
1923
“Bertha Hunt smoking during the Easter Parade”
Photograph
1929
(Source of photgraphs: “Torches of Freedom: Photographs of Women Smoking Publicly During the Easter Sunday Parade in 1929” https://www.vintag.es/2021/03/torches-of-freedom.html Vintage Everyday, 2023)
“Edith Lee smoking during Torches of Freedom March Easter Parade”
Photograph
1929