Alcohol & Tobacco Posters - part 7

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 7 of an 8-part series on alcohol and tobacco posters:

1939 Cigarettes naja Tabc d'Orient
by Georges Leonnec (France)

1939 Mahalla cigarettes
by Victor Rutz (Ruzo) (Switzerland)

1940 Villiger Export cigars
by Victor Rutz (Ruzo) (Switzerland)

1953 Boston cigarettes
by Victor Rutz (Ruzo) (Switzerland)

1939 Van Nelles Lichte Virginia Shag
by unknown (Netherlands)

1940 Capitol ciarettes
by Albert Bütschi (Switzerland)

1940 Cigarillos Indiana
by Ferdinand Schott (Switzerland)

1940 Madéhn Vert, Faible en Nicotine
by Création Publivox, Geneva

c1940 Avalon Cigarettes
by unknown (Spain)

c1940 Caporal Vautier Cigarettes
by Simon André

before 1942 Habanos Libertad
by Leonetto Cappiello (Italy)

1943 Marocaine Vautier Maryland cigarettes
by Simon André

1943 Pacific Toasted American Cigarettes
by Simon André (USA)

1943 Turmac Bleu cigarettes
by Simon André

1945 Marocaine Vautier Maryland cigarettes
by Simon  André

1946 Marocaine Maryland Vautier Filtre cigarettes
by Simon André

c1950 Pacific Toasted American Cigarettes
by Simon André (USA)

1956 Cigarettes Maryland, Stella Filtra
by Herbert Leupin (Switzerland)

1940s You're on the right track with Kools
by unknown

before 1948 Capstan Navy Cut, W.D. & H.O. Wills
by John Hassall (UK)

1948 Rauch Pfife
by Luigi Taddei (Switzerland)

1950 Fontenoy Tabac,  Brun
by Bernard Villemot  (France)

1957 Gitanes Caporal Avec ou Sans Filtre
by Bernard Villemot (France)

1950 Maryland Brunette cigarettes
by Emil Ebner

c1950 Brunette, die rassige Maryland Cigarette 80 Cts.
 by Emil Ebner

c1950 Balto Goût Américain
 by Guy Georget (France)

c1960 Balto Goút Americain
by Guy Georget (France)

c1950 Disque Bleu Gauloise
by Georges Favre (France)

c1950 Fontenoy Cigarettes
by J.C. Rousseau (France)

c1960 Discrètement Mentholées, Ariel
by J.C. Rousseau (France)

Gauloises cigarettes
by unknown

c1950 Gitanes Régie Française des Tabacs
by Hervé Morvan (France)

c1960 Royale La Cigarette par Excellence
by Hervé Morvan (France)

c1950 Goût français, Caporal Vautier
by André Closset (France)

c1950 Marocaine Filtre cigarettes
by André Closset (France)

c1950 Marocaine Filtre
by Pierre Duvernay (France)

c1950 Super Marocaine Filtre cigarettes
by Pierre Duvernay (France)

1961 Caporal Extra-Fin Cigarettes
 by Pierre Duvernay (France)

c1950 Starlet, American Blend Cigarettes
by Felice Tosalli

1950s Disque Bleu Aavec ou sans filtre
by Henri Faure (France)

1951 Select cigar havane
by Dujardin