What Those Funny Old Smoking Ads Really Show

"Not recommended for children under 6"

"The first evidence of people getting cancer from smoking is found in the eighteenth century,” says Proctor. “Mainly lip cancer, but also throat cancer. By the mid-nineteenth century, ‘smoker’s cancer’ was recognized fairly widely as a rare disease of the throat.”

But there was no convincing proof—or even a scientific method for establishing proof—and the unregulated ad market allowed messages like this one, which touted the benefits of tobacco for even the most breathing-afflicted (though probably not to children under 6).

Photo: Stanford School of Medicine