One thing that was pivotal for our generation was the intense marketing of tobacco products.
These were not new but they had been given a huge production burst in the 1940s
1492- When Columbus visited the new world he found many native people were using dried tobacco leaves. It seemed a treatment for fatigue or hunger. Tobacco was taken back to Europe. It could be put into pipes.
1600s – in France tobacco is sometimes pressed into blocks using a licorice syrup or sweetened molasses. It is more portable than loose tobacco . Some call it snuff.
1700- Some tobacco was crushed with filler and wrapper to make cigars in Spain.
1800s- The pressed tobacco blocks could be bitten off by pieces and put up the nose or chewed.
1847 – Philip Morris sells hand rolled Turkish cigarettes
1881 – cigarette machine can role 200 cigarettes a minute
1890 – American Tobacco Company forms
1902 – British Tobacco Company forms
1917- chewing and spitting out tobacco became socially less accepted and rolling the tobacco into cigarettes grew in popularity
1921 – slogan – I’d walk a mile for a Camel
1924 – menthol cigarettes are promoted to help with sore throats
1929 – some cigarette ads say that they are for women like “torches of freedom’
1940s – many countries provide cigarettes to soldiers as rations
1940 – many governments provide cigarettes in rations for the soldiers
1940s- cigarettes are a sign of friendship and consolation for soldiers, during the war
In the 1950s people were actually encouraged to smoke. To do so was seen as relaxing and cool.
1950 – tobacco companies are major radio advertisers
1950 – outstanding and they are mild – slogan- Pall Mall
1951 – slogan – The quality cigarette- Players
1953 – Lung cancer is linked to cigarette smoking
1954 – slogan – Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch
1954 – Winston cigarettes – slogan -Winston takes good like a cigarette should
1954 – Winston tastes good like a cigarette should- Winston Cigarettes
1955 – The Marlboro man –slogan – Marlboro cigarettes
1955 – When only the best will do -slogan- Benson & Hedges
1956 – Salem cigarettes get filter tips . Slogan “refreshes your taste”
In 1957 ( we were 8) there were starting to be medical reports that linked tobacco smoking with lung cancer.
1958 – The finest filter tip cigarettes slogan– Du Maurier
1960 – American Heart Association links heart disease to cigarette smoking
1960s – Tobacco companies offer light, or milk cigarettes, filter tip or menthol
1960 –-tobacco companies sponsor many TV shows including the Beverly Hillbillies, To Tell the Truth
1960s _ US removes cigarettes from military rations
1960 – US bans import of Cuban products so cigars are imported from Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican republic
1960 – the American Heart Association says that cigarette smoking is linked to heart disease.
1968 – You’ve come a long way baby – slogan- Virginia Slims cigarettes
1963 – slogan- Come to Marlboro country
1964 – Some countries now restrict advertising of cigarettes to minors
1968 – Virginia Slims
However many of my cohort had already started smoking and it was an addiction of its own. Many started in early teen years and never stopped. The movies and ads still featured it, for years.
Movies had heroes who smoked, sexy women smoked, and the culture accommodated. There were ashtrays at airplane seats, in restaurants and lobbies. Most homes purchases ashtrays and they were a décor item, with some tall versions on stands and some cute little ones with plungers that whirled to deposit the ash into a container.
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