Folks interested in American history are familiar with the history of
the long thirst, the national prohibition of alcoholic beverages that was
ushered in in 1919 and ended in 1933. Less familiar is the story of efforts
to outlaw cigarettes.
Folks interested in American history are familiar with the history of
the long thirst, the national prohibition of alcoholic beverages that was
ushered in in 1919 and ended in 1933. Less familiar is the story of efforts
to outlaw cigarettes.
Ever since Columbus upbraided his sailors for "descending to the level of savages" and joining the Indians in smoking tobacco, Europeans and their ancestors have debated the ethics of tobacco use. Over time the use of pipes, snuff, and cigars grew to be quite respectable, if not accepted in all quarters. The cigarette, however, carried with it certain emotional baggage. To many it was a thing used by young dandies, or by street corner hustlers, but never by hard-working Americans.
Thomas Edison advanced the theory that cigarettes were far more harmful than other kinds of tobacco use because of chemicals produced in the burning of cigarette papers (cigars, after all, were wrapped in healthful tobacco leaves). Edison's ideas attracted widespread attention, and Henry Ford, for one, tried to make sure none of his employees smoked cigarettes.
The leader of the anti-smoking forces was Lucy Gaston, a school teacher from Illinois. He enemies made certain that everyone knew she was a spinster, and one unkind journalist pointed out that she resembled Abraham Lincoln--without the beard. But Gaston had great energy, and moved freely in church circles. Her organization, the National Anti-Cigarette League, distributed tens of thousands of publications, advancing the idea that cigarette smoking was bad for the health. The science used to support this allegation was awful, but as we know, the allegation itself was sound. Other organizations such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) supported Miss Gaston's call for statutory prohibition of cigarettes.
By 1899, three states had actually outlawed cigarettes--Iowa, Tennessee, and North Dakota--and a dozen other states were giving anti-tobacco legislation a serious look. Kansas, for one, would join the states where cigarettes were contraband, early in the 20th Century.
The event that hurt the anti-tobacconists most was World War I. When soldiers were on the move, pipes and cigars were out of the question. Cigarettes were cheap, compact, quickly smoked, and they even (so the wisdom went) steadied the nerves and aided wakefulness. In one of the great ironies of history, the Red Cross distributed hundreds of thousands of packs of cigarettes to our boys in the Army. Returning veterans bolstered the popularity of cigarettes at home.
As prohibition of alcohol was coming in, prohibition of cigarettes was going out. Kansas was the last state to lift its cigarette ban (in 1927). One reason a cigarette ban couldn't be sustained was that if states couldn't tax the liquor industry, they would have to tax something else, and cigarettes seemed a likely target. But more substantively, cigarettes by 1920 were too popular among veterans, their friends, and families to allow the National Anti-Cigarette League to win its goal.
What is the story behind this little blue button that reads "Anti-Tobacco"?
Unfortunately we don't know the details. Chances are it was used in a state
like Iowa or North Dakota during the campaign leading up to anti-tobacco
legislation. It may have simply been used by Gaston's National Anti-Cigarette
League, worn by members to show their colors. The backpaper is that of David
Cook of Chicago, a firm specializing in religious products. Given the church
backing for anti-tobacco laws in Tennessee, Iowa, North Dakota, and Kansas,
it isn't surprising that David Cook was chosen to supply the button. Church
leaders were already used to dealing with that firm for Sunday School buttons.
It is also possible the David Cook Company itself took the initiative, producing
the button on speculation for sale to any interested groups.
| © 1997 by Stephen Cresswell |
To Find Out More about the anti-cigarette movement: Richard Kluger, Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred Year Cigarette War (Knopf, 1996).