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The Big Smoke
Look at most any pack of cigarettes sold in France and there will be a bold notice saying: 'Smoking kills'.
Things were different in the 1950s. There was a famous advertisement portraying a beauty in a swim-suit smoking a brand called Craven 'A'. The slogan was: 'Always cool, smooth and easy on the throat'.
(Craven 'A' was introduced in London over a century ago at the behest of the Earl of Craven. The brand is still popular in specialist tobacconists in New York, Paris and Toronto.
At that time, a splendid time was guaranteed for all.
Former American president Ronald Reagan helped promote Chesterfield cigarettes with the words: 'It feels good'. There was another nice advertisement from the firm of R J Reynolds in the 1940s: 'More doctors smoke Camels'.
The Economist turns its sights on the the history of 'the evil weed' in a review in this week's issue. The reviewer says: 'Cigarettes may kill, but their makers know the addiction will last'.
"The single most shattering statistic about life in America in the late 1990s was that tobacco killed more people than the combined total of those who died from AIDS, car accidents, alcohol, murder, suicide, illegal drugs and fire" (The majority of smokers died of lung cancer).
No wonder that governments in the western world are each mounting vigorous campaigns to prohibit smoking.
Yet 50 million Americans continue to smoke.
Blame Jean Nicot or Sir Walter Raleigh. It's your choice.
