Smoke and Mirrors

The re-glamorization of cigarettes and what it means for culture today

Written by Kylie Hynes, Contributing Writer | Graphic by Mac Gale, Arts Curator

Addictive, luxurious, suave and sensual, cigarettes are the embodiment of vintage glamour and style. Once seen dangling from the fi ngers of Hollywood heartthrobs and between the red lips of silver-screen starlets, they’re now made of the kind of colorful aluminum we discreetly tuck into our pockets. We know the allure of cigarettes is nothing but smoke and mirrors, but we continue to invent new ways for this poisonous habit to seduce our minds and destroy our bodies.

It might be hard to imagine a time when cigarettes were known as anything but a bad habit or precursor to lung cancer, but in the mid-1800s, they were a status symbol. Originally sold as handmade luxury goods for Europe’s urban elite, cigarettes weren’t typically found in the hands of the working class.1 It wasn’t until the rise of mass production and the development of aggressive marketing strategies and advertisements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that cigarettes became a mainstream commodity.

The notoriety of cigarettes acquired throughout the Gilded Age and Progressive Era can be largely attributed to the work of tobacco connoisseur and entrepreneur Philip Morrison. By bringing his wildly successful and fast-growing tobacco business, Philip Morris & Co., to New York from London in 1902, Morris started a tobacco revolution in America and a golden age for cigarettes.2

Fanning the fl ames of this tobacco revolution were the First and Second World Wars. Militaries, governments and newspapers organized a constant supply of cigarettes to troops as a way to relieve physical and psychological stress because they were easier to smoke in the trenches than pipes.3 Thereafter, when tens of millions of soldiers returned home from war, their new habit followed.

With millions of men around the world already hooked, nearly half of the population of industrialized countries smoked by 1950.4 Cheap, legal and socially acceptable—whether at work, home, bars or the cinema—cigarettes were all too easy to market, and advertisers were eager to show custom-

1 Jason Rodrigues, “When smoking was cool, cheap, legal and socially acceptable,” The Guardian, Mar. 31, 2009. 2 “PMI’s Key Milestones,” Philip Morris International, Aug. 12, 2022. 3 “The Age of the Cigarette,” Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. 4 Ibid. ers a full range of leisure activities that could be made better with a cigarette in hand.

Because these advertisements were marketed exclusively to men, the 1960s launch of Virginia Slims—the fi rst cigarette brand to market exclusively to women—was a resounding success.5 Targeting women’s psychological need to feel socially accepted in a culture where smoking was the norm, Virginia Slims promoted slenderness, attractiveness, glamour, style, taste and, most boldly, feminism.6

Also playing a signifi cant role in the trendiness of cigarettes in the 1950s and ’60s was a fast-growing cinephilic and celebrity culture. Infl uences by and from the silver screen during Hollywood’s Golden Age made cigarette smoking the epitome of cool and glamour. Where actors like James Dean, with a cigarette between his teeth and a smirk on his lips, symbolized the kind of charismatic masculinity ordinary men could only dream of by picking up the habit themselves, Hollywood darlings like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn proved that cigarettes could not only be sophisticated but that they belonged in women’s hands too.

Firmly established in 20th century Americana, cigarettes were fi nally exposed for the fallacy they were in the 1964 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report. This landmark report was the fi rst major exposé linking smoking cigarettes to dangerous health eff ects, such as heart disease and lung cancer; it made way for dozens of anti-smoking laws and policies to follow.7

As a result, cigarette smoking has been on a steady decline for the last 60 years. From 1965 to 2018, the percentage of U.S. adult smokers declined from 42.6% to 13.6%.8 However, instead of leaving cigarettes in a cloud of smoke behind us, we’ve invented a new way to get our nicotine fi x. Cue the entrance of cigarettes’ cooler and trendier younger sibling: the e-cigarette.

Call them what you want—vapes, Juuls, dispos or dab pens, e-cigs have become one of the most notable cul-

5 L. C. Douglass, “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby,” Histories of Things to Come, Feb. 14, 2015. 6 Maggie Polk, “Phillip Morris: How Virginia Slims Targeted Women to Sell Cigarettes,” Medium, Oct. 24, 2018. 7 Kayla Ruble, “Read the Surgeon General’s 1964 report on smoking and health,” PBS, Jan. 14, 2014. 8 “Trends in Cigarette Smoking Rates,” American Lung Association, n.d. tural phenomena of the last decade. The circulating mindset that vaping is a safer alternative to cigarette smoking in terms of health may have caused the 1650% and 1733% increase in e-cigarette usage among middle school and high school students from 2011-2018.9 However, this is just another smoke and mirrors excuse for another form of nicotine addiction.

Despite e-cigarettes temporarily stealing their spotlight, cigarettes have been making a cultural comeback. The days when being seen with a “USB charger” in your mouth were cool are quickly being left behind in a cloud of cotton-candy-scented smoke and a trail of empty pods. Even while they were trending, there’s a reason why we’ve never heard rappers or musicians singing about hitting a Juul instead of lighting a cigarette. Like a stereotypical younger sibling, some would say they’re embarrassing.

Music isn’t the only platform to glorify and glamorize cigarettes. Television, fi lm and social media have provided more exposure to imagery involving cigarettes every day, rekindling interest in cigarettes among younger viewers. This kind of exposure has researchers worried that scenes of smoking may reverse a trend of declining use by glamorizing and re-normalizing cigarettes.10

Even so, cigarettes are becoming less about the nicotine and more about the cool factor that comes with them. With more younger cigarette smokers smoking in social settings than anywhere else, “drunk cigs” have become a social norm in the American college and bar scene. Because few seem to be taking smoke breaks from their cigarettes at the same frequency as vaping, cigarettes are even considered by some as the safer alternative to e-cigarettes.

The tables have turned. Our culture is quick to jump from one bad habit to the next. Cigarettes are no less deadly than they were when we discovered the dangers associated with them, but we continue to ignore the writing on the wall and the CDC’s website. While they never were and never will be a good idea, cigarettes have proven to be one of those things—like a pair of blue jeans or a little black dress—that never quite go out of style. ■

9 Ibid. 10 Bill Keveney, “Exclusive: Anti-smoking group says more cigarettes in streaming shows may lure younger viewers,” USA Today, Mar. 16, 2018.