The Canadian Cigar and Tobacco Journal in the forties: A remembrance

Abstract

This paper is a period snapshot of the life and times of Canadian smoking culture, filtered through The Canadian Cigar and Tobacco Journal (the industry’s trade paper) from 1943-1949. The Journal provided a vivid portrait of neighbourhood tobacconists, travelling salesman, wholesalers and factory workers, homemakers and entrepreneurs. I discuss the role of Jews in the industry, as manufacturers and retailers. The Journal evokes the dangers of the retail trade, such as armed robberies, as well as the dangers of wartime. There is also the parallel danger of tobacco smoking, which, although not explicitly defined as risky behaviour by physicians, nonetheless is apparent to consumers. World War II is a dominant feature of The Journal, and the celebration of wartime tobacco consumption is epitomized by Winston Churchill and other heroic smokers. Women’s increased economic participation during the war years, and postwar demobilization, is reflected in The Journal. Finally, I discuss the growing targeting of children as potential consumers of tobacco.