This Smoking World
Nonfiction work
By: Albert Edward Hamilton
Date: 1927
Source: Hamilton, A.E. This Smoking World. New York: Century, 1927, 174–177, 182, 183–187.
About the Author: A.E. (Albert Edward) Hamilton (1887–?) was a widely recognized authority on tobacco.
Introduction
Americans have always attached a great deal of cultural significance to smoking. During the 1920s, the cigarette became a conspicuous sign that, by emulating men who enjoyed the freedom to light up in public, newly liberated women had themselves finally "arrived." In addition, the triumph of the cigarette over its rivals—the cigar and the pipe—amply demonstrated the enormous power of the modern mass media to shape consumer tastes.
During the nineteenth century, the cigar and to a lesser extent the pipe had dominated Americans' smoking habits. The cigar, consisting of various layers of...
[The entire page is 1658 words long]
1920's Lifestyles and Social Trends Primary Sources
The 1920's: Primary Sources
