Cigarette Psychology

Dr. William Neutra claimed that he could know a person's personality simply by observing the way they held a cigarette. At least, a man's personality. Women, he believed, were too "affected and unnatural" as smokers, and so didn't reveal much of their true personality.

The two illustrated articles below were published twenty years apart. Note that some of the interpretations differ, such as the gesture that he believes indicates a "hail fellow."

Life - May 8, 1939

Harrisburg Telegraph - Sep 6, 1939

Caper Magazine - May 1959

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 20, 2023 - Comments (8)
Category: Psychology, Smoking and Tobacco

Follies of the Madmen #578

Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 16, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Horror, Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, 1960s

How To Stop Smoking Without Using Willpower

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 28, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, Self-help Schemes, Smoking and Tobacco, 1970s

Dolphin Lair’s anti-smoking campaign

Dec 6, 1976: 21-year-old Dolphin Lair held a hostage at gunpoint for several hours on top of a building in Los Angeles until police agreed to his demand that local radio stations broadcast his anti-smoking message. The message read, in part, "I want my Congress to put a bill before the law that all cigarettes that contain nicotine and tar should clearly explain what the ingredients mean." Once the message was broadcast, Lair surrendered.

Lair's father had recently died of lung cancer. He later explained that when he had first tried to get the media to broadcast his message, "They told me it wasn't newsworthy. So I planned this... and it was newsworthy."

He was eventually convicted of felony false imprisonment and sentenced to a year in county jail.

More info: NY Times

Long Beach Independent - Dec 7, 1976

Coshocton Tribune - Dec 7, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 08, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Smoking and Tobacco, 1970s

Non-Stop Smoking

Munsey's Magazine - 1898

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 03, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, Nineteenth Century

The Jackson Illusion Pepper

The 1960's fad for smoking banana peels is well known. Less well known is a similar late-60s drug fad called the "Jackson Illusion Pepper." An explanation from Drugs From A to Z: A Dictionary by Richard R. Lingeman (1969):



More info from The East Village Other (Apr 1-15, 1967):

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 22, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Drugs, Smoking and Tobacco, 1960s

Cigarettes for mermaids

Why did the guy take cigarettes with him while scuba diving? And what exactly does the mermaid do with the cigarettes? Use them as jewelry?

House Beautiful - May 1956

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 13, 2023 - Comments (8)
Category: Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, 1950s

Champagne-Flavored Chewing Tobacco

Would this be popular today? I'm amazed they got the cooperation of the famous champagne maker.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 19, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Smoking and Tobacco, 1910s, Alcohol

Hagi Pipe

From 1960. A foot-long cigarette filter that supposedly would "prevent lung cancer from smoking."

Source: Science Photo Library

Text from 1961 Congressional hearings:

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 15, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Smoking and Tobacco, 1960s

How to smoke fewer cigarettes

This reminds me of the old joke about how to drink fewer glasses of wine a day — get a bigger glass.

"It's wacky, but it works!"

image source: Trinkets & Trash
contemporary source: Photoplay - Nov 1976

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 26, 2022 - Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, 1970s