As I’m finishing this third book, I’ve been looking in the newspapers archives a lot, and I was a little surprised to find how cigarettes were marketed as far back as the 1910s. It was pretty targeted. So far I’ve identified three distinct types:
- Cigarettes that appeal to the Smart Set
- Cigarettes that appeal to the Everyman (or Everywoman)
- Cigarettes that replace food or equate to food
I give you cigarettes for the Smart Set!
Choose the cigarette you’d buy in the poll at the end of this post!

1923 ad – You’d like to be swell like this guy, would you?

1915 ad – These guys remind me of people on their smart phones

1937 ad featuring minor celebrities

1914 ad wholesome cigarettes for the distinctive individual

1937 Old Gold ad
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