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From the Archive: The Tobacco Industry and Advertising: Women Smoking in Interwar Britain

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Authored by Nishah Malik
Published on 3rd January, 2023 34 min read

From the Archive: The Tobacco Industry and Advertising: Women Smoking in Interwar Britain

"The woman smoker is a twentieth-century phenomenon."1- Penny Tinkler 

Our new collection, Britannia and Eve, 1926-1957, comprises of one of the various “sister” titles owned by The Illustrated London News (ILN) called Britannia and Eve. Encompassing just under 38,000 images and containing over 360 issues, which were published between 1929 to 1957, this collection is an invaluable resource for students and researchers alike. The publication marketed itself to a predominantly wealthy female readership, who were primarily in their twenties and thirties. The magazine contained a great deal of diverse content from politics to fashion, and from home etiquette to food. In particular, the collection provides a window into the changing role of the "modern woman" in early-to-mid twentieth-century Britain. The publication contained a wide variety of supplements and opinion pieces related to women’s shifting role in interwar and postwar Britain. Features addressing women’s equality were frequent topics of discussion. In particular, articles discussed in depth women’s place in postwar society, famous women in history, difficulties the female sex faced and women voting. 

Unfortunately women’s fight for equality has been, and certainly still is, a long and difficult one. Throughout history women have fought for their right to vote, their right to control their own bodies, their right to contraception and abortion, as well as their right to equal pay. These significant wins are often celebrated and paid great attention to within academia. However, as history has taught us, the patriarchy had flooded its way into all aspects of society. Some things we take for granted as women these days were once unheard of for a woman to do and considered courageous acts of feminism. For example simply riding a bicycle was “the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood" in the early twentieth century. This article, using Britannia and Eve, will aim to look at another one of these surprising pictures of “free, untrammeled womanhood": smoking. Smoking is now a firmly established practice for both men and women, however this was not always the case.

Article from Britannia and Eve about Tabacco

As discussed above, Britannia and Eve contained a great deal of diverse content. In 1932 the publication published a supplement titled “Big Business – Series of the Romance of Great Enterprises and the Men Behind Them” in which it spotlighted a major brand monthly and discussed its successes. Big names such as Cadbury’s and Thomas Cook were focused on. The 1st December 1932 issue contained the last article within the series which focused on the Imperial Tobacco Co. The Imperial Tobacco Co. was the combination of thirteen British tobacco and cigarette companies, such as Players, Wills, Ogdens, Three Nuns, and Churchman’s, established in 1901. The article discusses how, despite the heavy tax on tobacco, the Imperial Tobacco Co. had been able to flourish. It goes on to show that the amount spent on tobacco products in 1914 was at £99 million per annum, but this figure had risen to £158 million per annum by 1932, with £2,000,000 being spent every week on Imperial Tobacco Co. products that year in Britain alone. The article credited this enormous increase to the modern woman, explaining that: 

“The modern woman has been credited with the accomplishment of many social miracles since she won her freedom during the war; but the story of how she has kept the overtaxed cigarette manufacturer immensely rich seems to have been omitted from the usual list of her achievements.”2

The article goes on to explain how this tax meant that out of every 6p of tobacco sold the company only received 1p. The articles expresses how twenty years previously the “feminine smoker was a negligible factor in the tobacco market” but, by 1932, females kept Imperial Tobacco Co. rich. 

“The war came and with it a sudden demand for cigarettes.”3

This change in female smoking practices was a result of the First World War. The article explains how by 1917 women workers “began to succumb” to the habit, further expressing how “the sight of a woman smoking a cigarette” was no longer a “cause for wonder”.4 This article will explore this piece from Britannia and Eve in more detail and look into just how and why the modern woman had kept “the overtaxed cigarette manufacturer immensely rich” after the First World War.5 The article will examine the lack of female smokers prior to the war and the immense increase after the war, in order to evaluate how this societal shift happened. It will take an interdisciplinary approach, combining both media and gender studies in order to explore how this feminisation of smoking in Britain was portrayed in cigarette advertisements in the interwar period. In particular, it will use the tobacco advertisements presented in the Britannia and Eve publication as case studies. 

Smoking Patterns Prior to First World War

The social meaning of smoking has changed greatly over the years. Before exploring the shifts in the interwar period it would be wise to look at smoking patters prior to the First World War. Rosemary Elliot notes that, prior to the First World War, smoking was extremely gendered and considered solely a male habit.6 The introduction of the cigar in Britain in the 1820s consolidated smoking among men of the upper and middle classes. Tobacco was seen as a “symbol of fraternity and friendship” and, therefore, smoking was often popular among the aristocracy as an after-dinner pastime “after the ladies left the table”.7 This highlights how it was considered a male habit as it was only indulged in once the women had left the room, further reiterating the “separate spheres” of the period. 

However, in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century, smoking was not just simply a male habit that women did not care for: it was flooded with patriarchy. Smoking was viewed as something that was unproper for a woman to do, yet acceptable for a man. Within society and literature smoking was often portrayed as something that only women of the lowest classes participated in. For example, Henry Fielding’s novel, Amelia, used this connection of women of low class smoking by describing a female character as “smoking tobacco, drinking punch, talking obscenely and swearing and cursing”.8 This connection that smoking was a taboo for a woman of high class was reinforced by Queen Victoria who loathed smoking and believed “ladies were supposed to detest the smell of tobacco smoke”.9 The Queen believed that women who smoked had a bad reputation, and her hatred of tobacco led to her “banning people from smoking in her presence and in royal premises”.10 Aside from this, in the late nineteenth century, smoking was associated with women who desired independence and tried to improve their position in society. In 1891, Lynn Linton wrote a series of articles for the Girl of The Period titled “Wild Woman” about women who desired personal independence and Linton used smoking as an act that made women equal to men. In these articles she described the “Wild Woman” as a woman who saw no distinction between the sexes, stating how: 

“She smokes after dinner with the men, in railway carriages; in public rooms - when she is allowed. She thinks she is thereby vindicating her independence and honouring her emancipated womanhood.”11

The symbol of the cigarette was used as a vehicle to show how this woman was improving her position in society. This further highlights how smoking was gendered in the nineteenth century. Smoking was a taboo for women and only done by women of lower class or who were trying to improve their position. Much of the imagery around smoking was also gendered: in particular, “anti-tobacco literature assumed that the smoker was male”.12 

“Ladies, you may Smoke!”: First World War and the Interwar Years "Ladies, You May Smoke", Britannia and Eve, June 1929."Ladies, You May Smoke", Britannia and Eve, June 1929. The First World War saw the “expansion of cigarette smoking”. Smoking was considered “for its morale boosting qualities” among soldiers and civilians.13 Smoking cigarettes held an integral place in war life with “over 96% of British soldiers being regular smokers just four months into the war”.14 In the press there were many “campaigns to collect cigarettes and tobacco to send to troops”, as they were considered to provide “comfort in times of stress”.15 By the end of the First World War cigarette consumption had “overtaken pipe tobacco and cigars in popularity”.16 

Just as women had been doing traditionally masculine jobs and roles during the war, they also began acquainting themselves with typically masculine pleasures. Women had been slowly trying to gain more independence prior to and during the war through the suffrage movement. However, this was accelerated in the interwar years when women were gaining more freedom socially. This manifested itself in changing dress-codes and social habits, like smoking.17 There was also a shift in attitudes surrounding women smoking, due to their move into traditional masculine jobs. Due to this there is no doubt as to why the article in Britannia and Eve credited the modern woman with keeping the “overtaxed cigarette manufacturer immensely rich”.18 Tobacco companies began noticing this societal shift and many of the advertisements in the interwar years reflected this. 

Advertising of Tobacco Products

The Tatler, 6 September 1916

Figure 1 - The Tatler, 6 September 1916

The Tatler, 14 March 1906Figure 2 - The Tatler, 14 March 1906

Analysing contemporary publications provides useful material on a range of topics, as reading the fascinating articles and news supplements provides a window onto a country’s social history.19 However, arguably looking and analysing advertisements are just as, or if not more, interesting than the content of magazines when exploring the social and cultural history of a country in times of great change. Richard Pollay argues that advertisements in magazines can be beneficial in revealing “our evolution as a society”, while also highlighting consumption patterns and “displaying the values” of a culture.20 The tobacco adverts in Britannia and Eve are no different. Smoking Statistics Between Men and Women between 1907 and 1982

Figure 3 - Smoking Statistics Between Men and Women between 1907 and 1982 (Source - N Wald et al, Smoking Statistics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 13)


When it comes to the advertisements of tobacco products there is great debate and controversy regarding whether tobacco companies just encouraged women to buy their brand or whether they promoted smoking amongst women more generally. Many articles have discussed how tobacco companies “hooked women by feminising cigarettes” from the 1920s onwards.21 Lorraine Greaves argues that tobacco advertisements explicitly targeted at women appeared in the late 1920s. This is certainly the case as many earlier Victorian cigarette adverts up until the mid-to-late 1920s were very simple and more male-oriented (figure 1 and 2), and women did not begin appearing in tobacco adverts until the late 1920s.22 However, Greaves’ later comments present some point for discussion as, in her book, Smoke Screen: Women, Smoking and Social Control, she maintains that this “deliberate targeting of the female market” essentially “launched the widespread use of cigarettes by women”.23 However, countering Greaves’ comment, one cannot assume that the rise of female smokers was a result of the tobacco manufacturers' persuading advertisements. As this article has discussed, women began smoking more and were also seen smoking more in the years that followed the First World War. Figure 3 supports this, as the bottom line highlights the rise in smoking among women slowly during the First World War and more rapidly in the 1920s. Therefore, this in combination with the fact women did not appear in tobacco advertisements until the late 1920s, highlights how tobacco advertising simply followed the general shifting consensus in society regarding the rise in female smoking, rather than being the cause of it as Greaves has articulated. Many earlier adverts tended to contain more written text with basic illustrations, however by the mid 1920s adverts began to be more visual with more symbolic meanings intertwined in them. The feminisation of cigarettes was presented in three ways in adverts: by the portrayal of the "Ideal Woman", the contradiction of health concerns, and the exploitation of women’s insecurities.

Advertising of Cigarettes: “Ideal for the Lady’s Handbag”

Women began appearing in tobacco adverts in the late 1920s and early 1930s. One of the major ways tobacco companies aided in the feminisation of cigarettes was portraying cigarettes as glamourous and fashionable. The interwar period was a time of great social upheaval and, in particular, this period witnessed a rise in new fashions. Ruth Goodman suggests that the 1920s and 1930s “had the first recognisably modern clothes for women” with “synthetic fabrics, shorter skirts and a much more natural bodily outline”.24 Similarly, Mila Ganeva maintains that “it was during the 1920s that women began … to dress in a way that we can identify with today”.25 This new era in fashion was partly due to advancements in clothing production and women’s changing role in society after the war. Martin Pugh attributes these changes to wartime experiences, stating that the women shortened their skirts “to economise on material”.26 In particular, the fashions of the 1930s took profound influence from Hollywood films. Women’s magazines like Britannia and Eve reflected this and were often flooded with fashion articles, tips, do-it-yourself fashion guides, and adverts. This climate was also reproduced in cigarette adverts. In particular, tobacco brand Players and Ardath, which was part of the Imperial Tobacco Co., used glamourous women and fashion to further feminise cigarettes. 

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.A Players advert published in the January 1931 issue of Britannia and Eve stated that “Though fashions note is ever changing Players always please” and included a woman in a new coat with the caption “A really distinctive coat for afternoon wear made of Persian lamb trimmed with ermine”.27 A Players advert published in November 1938 showed a woman holding a cigarette with the caption “Though fashion may influence her choice in many matters, she smokes Players because, like so many of her friends she prefers these excellent cork-tipped cigarettes”.28 Another advert by Ardath similarly advertised cigarettes as a fashionable thing. The advert contained a woman in a fashionable blouse of the era with her cigarette box next to her and the caption “The Ultimate note in fashion in cigarettes is Ardath”, followed by a short description of what “printed Paisely blouse” the lady was wearing.29 Other fashion adverts, most notably the Marshall & Snelgrove adverts, included women smoking while wearing and selling the newest fashions. The use of popular women and popular fashions in cigarette adverts highlights how smoking was seen as a fashionable practice for women. It also highlights the growing normality and acceptance of female smokers by the 1930s, in comparison to previous decades, as smoking came to be seen as something that enhanced a woman’s elegance, just like the latest fashions.Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.

Furthermore, adverts tried to aid the feminisation of cigarettes by presenting cigarettes as female attributes. A De Reszke cigarette advert, published in April 1931, described cigarettes as “smooth and sleek” with an “elegant ivory tip”.30 While a Players advert in 1934 highlighted how the cigarettes had “cork tips for dainty lips”, going on to state how they came in “handy little cartons" which were “ideal for the lady’s handbags”.31 The use of the words dainty, elegant. and sleek, as well as tobacco companies' careful package design to fit in women’s handbags further highlights how cigarettes shifted from just a man’s pastime to something that was for the modern fashionable woman. 

Cigarette advert in The Sketch.
Despite gaining more freedom after the First World War, in the 1930s women’s role was still largely centred around the family and the home. Alongside the glamourous link, tobacco companies further aided in the feminisation of cigarettes by creating a link between their role in the family. On 13th September 1933 The Sketch published an advertisement from the cigarette brand Players, which contained a child playing with a box of cigarettes. The caption read:

“Mummy’s favourite! This cheery little fellow on the cushion always up to mischief…at last he’s captured a friendly rival…Another “Mummy’s favourite”, one which also never loses its charm. And a dependable favourite which always soothes and brings content.”32

Tobacco companies further aided in the feminisation of cigarettes by creating a link between motherhood and smoking. The fact that the child in the advert acknowledged that it was “mummy’s favourite” highlights how smoking among women had been firmly consolidated by 1933. Aside from adverts, many of the earlier front covers of Britannia and Eve included portraits of glamourous women. However it was not until the 1930s when the feminisation of smoking was further consolidated in print media. In the 1930s Britannia and Eve began to include glamourous women with a cigarette close to their mouth on the front covers of their magazines. Tinkler highlights how this placing of the cigarette in images presented the cigarette as a “extension of the feminine form”. Further expressing how adverts often placed focus of the cigarette in slender graceful hands to almost sexualise and make cigarettes and women smoking sensual.33 

Smoking became a “symbol of the young liberated woman”.34 Paul Fass maintains that women smoking was a symbol of how they were “testing the elbow room provided by her new sense of freedom and equality”.35 Prior to the late 1920s cigarettes and women smoking were hardly seen in print media, yet the shift to cigarettes being presented as an extension of women, to the point where they were made easily transportable and visible to their children, highlights how the feminisation of cigarettes was consolidated both in society and print media by the 1930s. 

Advertising of Cigarettes: “I Value my Throat…That’s why I smoke Craven A.”

Article about smoking in Britannia and Eve.Britannia and Eve, 14 December 1928

Twenty-first century society is well versed in  the side effects of smoking, however the road to this was very slow in the twentieth century: after all, it was not until the 1950s that the connection between smoking and lung cancer was made.36 Smoking has been “a target of criticism since its introduction into the UK in the 16th century”, as anti-smoking material had been appearing in pamphlets and medical journals since the 1500s.37 However, concerns about the detrimental health effects of smoking appeared more regularly in the popular press during the first half of the twentieth century. Britannia and Eve often addressed these concerns, in particular in the public health supplements in its December 1928 issues. On 14th December 1928 it published an article, with guidance from the British Medical Association, titled “More about Smoking – What is Moderation?”. The article discussed a recent study on smokers and non-smokers and found that heavy smoking was “unfavorable both to athletic prowess and scholastic achievement”.38 The article, when discussing the effects of smoking on the heart, further expressed: 

“Chronic laryngitis, irritability of the throat, morning cough and chronic nasal catarrh are also commonly associated with excessive smoking, especially with excessive cigarette smoking and generally will not yield to treatment until the exciting cause has been removed.”39  

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve. Britannia and Eve, April 1931

The article maintained that excessive smoking could cause irritation to the throat. Alongside the more visible presence of female smokers in advertisements, the tobacco industry further aided in the feminisation of the cigarette by both including women in adverts and counteracting the health concerns emerging in society. This concern of smoking causing “irritability of the throat” was addressed by tobacco brands, most namely Craven A. 

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.Britannia and Eve, October 1933

Craven A is a British cigarette brand founded in 1921. During the late 1920s and 1930s the brand ran a series of campaigns with women, which focused on tackling the emerging concerns, with the slogans “Made specially to prevent sore throats”, “For Your Throat's Sake", and "Will Not Affect Your Throat". The adverts included glamorous women smoking alongside their testimonies, which often stated how Craven A “delights my taste and respects my throat”. Other testimonies in the adverts stated that Craven A cigarettes “were the only cigarettes which did not make me cough or irritate”, further indicating how, after a spout of illness, she could now smoke her “usual quantity” without developing a cough due to Craven A cigarettes. 40Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.July 1936, Britannia and Eve

 “Smoke as many as you will – you can rely on the fact that they never affect the throat.”41 – November 1939, Britannia and Eve

The fact that health concerns surrounding cigarette usage were being voiced more within the media (and especially in women’s magazines like Britannia and Eve) was bound to be a concern for tobacco companies. With the feminisation of cigarettes and tobacco brands trying to create an image of glamour and an image of how “the cigarette was an enhancement of a feminine appearance”, women were tobacco companies' prime target audience.42 After all, women were credited with keeping the overtaxed cigarette manufacturer, Imperial Tobacco Co., immensely rich. Brands like Craven A further feminised the cigarette by seemingly providing solutions to common health concerns of smoking. 

Advertising of Cigarettes: “Don’t Nibble, Smoke a Kensitas!”

“There is absolutely no need whatsoever to suffer from over fatness.”43The Tatler, 26th April 1911.

Article on smoking in Britannia and Eve.Britannia and Eve, 7 December 1928

Along similar lines to the other health concerns adverts addressed, the tobacco industry further aided in the feminisation of the cigarette by targeting one of women’s biggest insecurities: their weight. The first article regarding smoking and health concerns was published on 7th December 1928 in Britannia and Eve. The article, titled “Do you Smoke?”, expressed the dangers of tobacco smoke and nicotine and how they react with one's body. In particular, when discussing how tobacco affected the stomach, it mentioned the link between excessive smoking and weight loss, stating: 

“Nicotine has yet another action on the stomach: it restrains those automatic contractions of the stomach muscle which translated themselves into consciousness as the sensation of hunger. Loss of appetite is thus one of the commonest symptoms of excessing smoking and indeed every smoker knows how a cigarette may be depended upon to starve off inopportune pangs of hunger.”44

Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.Britannia and Eve, December 1929 

The fact that nicotine suppressed appetite is commonly known today and this factor was exploited in cigarette adverts. Drawing on Prollay’s earlier comments that advertisements are beneficial in “displaying the values of a culture”, these tobacco adverts reiterated the values and beliefs of society regarding the notion that only thinness equated to beauty.45 Although one’s weight is a personal issue, examples throughout history highlight how the ideal body and beauty is in fact a socially constructed concept. What was considered to be beautiful has changed in every generation. However, in the interwar years, “the fashionable shape” - as Rosemary Elliot put it -  “was to be without shape”, and this was “emphasised in straight dress lines, minimal support garments and flattened bosom”.46 The Scottish cigarette brand Kensitas published adverts in the late 1920s that urged women to reach for a cigarette in order to “avoid that future shadow” and keep a slim line.47 The advert published in the December 1929 issue of Britannia and Eve showed a woman with a slim face with a larger shadow and text that reads:

“Ask your doctor! Overweight is harmful. It makes for sluggish health and destroys the trim, slender figure of fashion. And overweight is generally caused by eating between meals. So don’t eat between meals. That’s the time to smoke a Kensitas instead.”48 Cigarette advert in Britannia and Eve.Britannia and Eve, December 1928

Another advertisement published in a December issue in 1928 used an image of popular singer and dancer, Anita Elson endorsing Kensitas cigarettes as a meal replacement. The advertisement stated: 

“No fattening sweet things for me. If I didn’t light a Kensitas whenever I’m tempted by them, I should soon put on weight.”49

The advert further praised Elson for her slender figure which gave grace to her dancing, and Elson responded by saying: 

“Whenever my sweet-tooth calls, I have a Kensitas instead. That’s how I keep slim and supple, A Kensitas satisfies my craving for sweet things and it doesn’t spoil my figure.”50

These adverts may be shocking from a twenty-first century perspective. However, these notions were not just engaging advertising tactics: many women reiterated these beliefs about smoking and weight loss in a survey conducted in 1937.51 A smoking questionnaire was conducted in 1937 on fifty women and 180 men who smoked: the participants were asked various questions about their smoking habits and their reasons for smoking.52 The survey found that one of the major reasons women gave for smoking was weight control: many participants reiterated how, for them, smoking was “a way of trying to eat less”, while others considered smoking to be a perfect “substitute for eating”.53 

In her study on cigarette smoking, Elliot highlights the importance of women magazines to women, stating that they had “traditionally been seen as a source of information for women”, and further maintaining that women “developed close relationship with them and are more likely to trust and to value the information they get from magazines than other media sources”.54 She went on to state that magazines targeted at women, like Britannia and Eve, had an “important agenda-setting role in defining ideas about health and the causes of ill-health”. However, this health advice often endorsed bad habits surrounding body image.55 Britannia and Eve, and other ILN sister publications, were flooded with articles on how to lose weight and advertisements selling products that would help you to achieve a slender figure, such as Antipon or Vaco Reducing Cups. When looking through the ILN sister publications one thing that remains consistent is the notion that only thinness equates to beauty. A common denominator amongst every generation has been the battle between beauty and the concept of the ideal woman, particularly the notion that only thinness equates to beauty. The media has always played a large role in promoting a body beautiful image and has both created and exploited women’s insecurities. The fact that, in the 1920s and 1930s, cigarette companies like Kensitas  also fed off this cultural fixation surrounding thinness, like the female beauty and fashion industries, further highlights how cigarettes became feminised after the First World War. The Kensitas adverts are vital for reflecting not only the rise of female smokers, but also the values of beauty culture and how femininity was constructed in the 1920s and 1930s. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, this article has discussed how and why the modern woman kept “the overtaxed cigarette manufacturer immensely rich” after the First World War. The First World War and the subsequent freedom women gained was a catalyst for increasing female smokers and the acceptance of female smokers in society. The war consolidated the feminisation of cigarettes and the tobacco industry reacted to this by targeting women in adverts. Most importantly, the tobacco industry used advertising tactics to portray smoking as a glamourous, dainty pastime that all women should do if they wanted to stay slim. The tobacco industry incorporated different industries that women favoured, like the beauty and fashion industries, to further feminise cigarettes. 

Footnotes

  1. Penny Tinkler, "‘Red Tips for Hot Lips’: Advertising Cigarettes for Young Women in Britain, 1920-70", Women's History Review, (2001) 10:2, 249.
  2. Britannia and Eve, 1 December 1932. 
  3. Ibid. 
  4. Ibid. 
  5. Ibid.
  6. Rosemary Elliot, "'Destructive but Sweet': Cigarette Smoking among Women,1890-1990", Phd, University of Glasgow, (2001), 16. 
  7. Ibid., 90. 
  8. Ibid., 55. 
  9. Ibid., 91. 
  10. "When was Cigar Smoking Most Popular in the UK", 6th March 2020, accessed via: https://www.havanahouse.co.uk/cigar-smoking-popular-uk-blog/
  11. Elliot, 111.
  12. Ibid., 145. 
  13. Ibid., 146 and Michael Reeve, "Smoking and Cigarette Consumption", 23rd May 2018, accessed via: https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/smoking_and_cigarette_consumption 
  14. Ibid. 
  15. Elliot, 146.
  16. Ibid., 149. 
  17. Ibid. 
  18. Britannia and Eve, 1 December 1932.
  19. Richard Pollay, "The Subsiding Sizzle: a Descriptive History of Print Advertising, 1900-1980", Journal of Marketing, 49:3, (1986), 24. 
  20. Ibid. 
  21. "Slim and Stylish: How Tobacco Companies Hooked Women by 'Feminizing' Cigarettes", 4th April 2017, Truth Initiative, accessed via:https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/tobacco-industry-marketing/slim-and-stylish-how-tobacco-companies-hooked-women 
  22. Tinkler, 251.
  23. Lorraine Greaves, Smoke Screen: Women, Smoking and Social Control, (London: Scarlet Press,1996), 18.
  24. Ruth Goodman, "1930s Fashion at Eltham Palace", English Heritage, accessed via: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/1930s-fashion/
  25. "Roaring Twenties? Europe in the Interwar Period", accessed via: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/roaring-twenties-europe-the-interwar-period/content-section-5.1
  26. Ibid. 
  27. Britannia and Eve, January 1931.
  28. Britannia and Eve, November 1938. 
  29. Britannia and Eve, November 1937.
  30. Britannia and Eve, April 1931.
  31. Britannia and Eve, February 1934. 
  32. The Sketch, 13 September 1933. 
  33. Tinkler, 258. 
  34. Paul Fass, The Damned and the Beautiful. American Youth in the 1920s (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977)
  35. Ibid. 
  36. Robert Proctor, "The History of the Discovery of the Cigarette–Lung Cancer Link: Evidentiary Traditions, Corporate Denial, Global Toll", Tobacco Control (2012). 21, 87.
  37. "The Tobacco Industry and the Health Risks of Smoking", accessed via: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmhealth/27/0011324.htm
  38. Britannia and Eve, 14 December 1928.
  39. Ibid. 
  40. Britannia and Eve, October 1933/July 1936.
  41. Britannia and Eve, November 1933. 
  42. Tinkler, 258.
  43. The Tatler, 26 April 1911.
  44. Britannia and Eve, 7 December 1928.
  45. Pollay, 24.
  46. Elliot, 162. 
  47. Britannia and Eve, December 1929. 
  48. Ibid. 
  49. Britannia and Eve, December 1928.
  50. Ibid.
  51. Elliot, 210. 
  52. Ibid. 
  53. Ibid. 
  54. Ibid., 56. 
  55. Ibid. 



Authored by Nishah Malik

Nishah Malik

Nishah Malik is Collections Editor at British Online Archives. Nishah gained a Masters in History from the University of Derby in 2020. Her research interests centre around South Asian culture and heritage, as well as the history and experiences of the South Asian diaspora. She also has a keen interest in women's history.


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