Alcohol & Tobacco Posters - part 4

 A series on advertising posters for two “vices,” alcohol and tobacco. Advertising is now strictly regulated in the USA and UK for both products.

It has been 59 years (at 2023) since the U.S. Surgeon General’s first reports detailing the health hazards of smoking. The tobacco industry had great reliance on advertising - the posters shown here begin in 1889 and end in the 1970s. In January 1964, newspapers across America ran stories under headlines such as Cigarettes Health Hazard, Panel Says (Buffalo Evening News) and Cigarettes Health Hazard (Lowell Sun).

Sensing the need to counter growing concern raised about the risks of smoking, tobacco companies actually increased their reliance on advertising during the mid-20th century. The peddling of tobacco products during this period often  involved deliberately masking the hazards of smoking - indeed, the advertising frequently claimed or implied that smoking was healthy.

In 1962 the first Royal College of Physicians report: "Smoking and Health", was published. It received massive publicity. The main recommendations were: restriction of tobacco advertising; increased taxation on cigarettes; more restrictions on the sales of cigarettes to children, and smoking in public places; and more information on the tar/nicotine content of cigarettes. For the first time in a decade, cigarette sales fell. The Tobacco Advisory Committee (subsequently Council, and now known as the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association) - which represents the interests of the tobacco industry - agreed to implement a code of advertising practice for cigarettes which was intended to take some of the glamour out of cigarette advertisements.

This is part 4 of an 8-part series on alcohol and tobacco posters:

1926 Kwannon Cigarette
by Ludwig Hohlwein

1914-18 Chesterfield Cigarettes
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA) 

1914-18 Chesterfield Cigarettes "Ace High"
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA)

1914-18 Chesterfield Cigarettes "Some smoke, Matey"
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA)

1919 Chesterfield Cigarettes "They do satisfy"
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA)

1919 Chesterfield Cigarettes "Gee! I'm in luck"
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA)

1920s-30s Chesterfield Cigarettes
by Joseph Christian Leyendecker (USA) 

1915 Les As cigarettes
by unknown (Vietnam)

1915 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1915 Zig-Zag cigarette papers
by Gaspar Camps (Spanish)

1920s Zig-Zag cigarette papers
by Gaspar Camps (Spanish)

1924 "Nerma" Cigarettes Egyptiennes
by Gaspar Camps (Spanish)

1916 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1917 Empire Cigarettes
by unknown (Russia)

1917 Fatima Turkish Blend Cigarettes
by unknown (USA)

1917 Murad The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1917 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1919 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1917 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by Unknown (USA)

1917 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by Unknown (USA)

1917 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by Unknown (USA)

1918 Helmar Turkish Cigarettes
 by unknown (USA)

1918 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by Rea Irwin (USA)

1918 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1918 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1919 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1919 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1919 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1919 Sato Cigarettes Egyptiennes
by Charles Loupot (France)

1919 Sato Cigarettes Egyptienne
by Charles Loupot (France)

1920 Helmar Turkish Cigarettes
by unknown (USA)

1920s Black Cat Virginia Cigarettes
by unknown (UK)
 

1920s Leningrad Tobacco Company
by Alexander Zelensky (Russia)

1925 Cigarettes "Medoc" Smoking Connoisseur!
Leningrad State Tobacco Trust
by Alexander Zelensky (Russia)

1920s Wills "Gold Flake" Cigarettes
by unknown (UK)

c1920s Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by Unknown (USA)

1921 Cigarettes Matossian 
 by Leonetto Capiello (France)

c1920s Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

c1921 Cigarettes Matossian 
by Leonetto Capiello

c1920s Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1921 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1921 Murad, The Turkish Cigarette
by unknown (USA)

1922 Cigarettes Nadir
by Charles l'Eplattenier (Switzerland)