In 1920, cigarette companies spent millions on advertising and promotion to encourage smoking due to blend cigarette brands such as Camel, Lucky Strike, and Chesterfield. Smoking among women was rare in the 1920s. However, the passage of the 19th Amendment introduced new freedoms, and smoking in public became a symbol of women’s unique role in society. American Tobacco targets the women’s cigarette market with the slogan “Reach for a Lucky instead of sweet.”
Nearly every magazine and medical journal of the 1930s featured cigarette advertisements featuring opera singers, athletes, doctors, senators, and movie stars. There were tobacco advertisements on virtually every radio show. Jack Benny seamlessly incorporated the advertisements into his comedy hour.
Below are vintage posters of cigarette and cigar advertisements from the 1920s and 1930s.
