The Civil War

In the U.S. Civil War, many soldiers smoked cigarettes. The soldiers stopped fighting each evening. They relaxed and talked to each other. Soldiers who smoked cigarettes shared them with other soldiers. They often shared them with soldiers who did not smoke. Soon, tobacco companies gave soldiers free cigarettes. When the war ended, many soldiers found they could not stop smoking them. Cigarette companies also gave free cigarettes to soldiers during World War I and World War II. American soldiers shared cigarettes with soldiers from Europe. These soldiers were also unable to stop smoking.

War and Smoking

As in the past, war would prove to be one of the best jump-starters of cigarette smoking. The cigarette fad died briefly in 1860’s Europe, and cigars came back into style. Much like the French, British, Russian, and Turkish soldiers in the Crimean War, soldiers in the U.S. Civil War exposed each other to cigarettes, and small tobacco companies rationed small amounts of cigarettes out to both sides. Many northerners were introduced to cigarettes for the first time, and soldiers from both sides returned home addicted.

During this time in America, smoking was still a matter of social status. Generals, such as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, would never be caught smoking a cigarette, though maybe a cigar. Usually only the poor smoked cigarettes. By the mid-1860’s, cigarettes were prevalent in northern American cities as well.

Because cigarettes were such a large industry by World War I, the giving away of free cigarettes had greater results. American and French soldiers obtained free cigarettes easily. Reporters took newspaper photos of soldiers smoking. People back in the U.S. supported the soldiers and viewed them as heroes. They saw these soldiers smoking cigarettes, and consequently picked up the habit. Free cigarettes, greater cigarette demand, and tax increases drove up cigarette prices in the following years. The tobacco companies used the same tactics when World War II began, and gave away free cigarettes to soldiers in even greater numbers.