Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1910-08-15
My Lady Nicotine
lsan Francisco cain

Smoking for women has come to stay.
fashionable Francesca club. that hot
bed of excIdsiveness and straightlaced-
ness, has sealed it with the stamp of
its approval.
Within the gray and gold boundar-
les of the clubrooms those of the So
cial elect who are ranked among it's
members may pass pleasant hour or
two with friends and books and ciga-
rettes in a jolly, comfortable fashion,
untrammeled by conventions and I'M
restrained by public narrowmindedness
In the big hotels and cafes of this
city no woman can smoke unmolested;
she is politely requested to cease
should she make the attempt, so If you
are woman and really cannot get on
without a smoke to break the hours
of your downtown shopping, and do not
want to indulge in public, why, have
your name, If you have sufficient pull,
put on the waiting list of the Fran
cesca club, and you will some day be
enabled to have a delightful smoking
room in the shopping district with all
the comforts and privacy of home.
Not that you can smoke all over the
club. Far be 1t from thati But there
are spots set aside just for the pur-
pose, as bear witness the mute pla-.
cards on the walls that, to an old.
fashioned mind, bear this shocking
mandate for a ladies' club:
Smoking is only permitted in the
cardroom and in the gray ROOM"
And if you ask any. habitue Of the
club which is the most popular room
hereafter you will understand doubtless
her prompt reply, with the accompany
ing smile that in itself speaks volumes.
Iii. H.
motor cars and aeroplanes. At least.
the upper crustaceans of Hillsboro and
San Mateo and the local 400 have made
it feature and an attractive one of
their club life, SO 1t must be the proper
caper.
But do all The Francesca club ladies
approve of It? oh. dear, mol You
should see some of the shocked faces
of those who are still a little behind
the times.
At luncheons in the club, as a matter
of course, the maids pass the cigar
cites and matches after the Ice, in
much the same spirit that they would
pass the finger bowls. And some of the
old ladies who never have and never
will approve have looked askance on
the whole affair. It is study to watch
them. They may be having delicious
time over a big piece of gossip or
delirious scandal, the kind of which
you cannot afford to miss a word, or
they may be deep in literary discus
sion, or even simply be talking domes-
tic economy, when they are startled by
the obseuuious voice of the we'll trained
English servant at their elbow, and
horrors "a tray with cigarettes, of
more than one brand, and matches are
there at hand.
Some dramatic pauses, more elo-
ouent than speech, have followed and
a few of the really puritanical mem
bers have issued a mild protest. But
will it go down? Bless you, no. They
may all be smoking yet at the Fran
cesca club.
1t may be nerve resting or it may be
mannish; it may be simply en- regle, or
they may have all irrevocably acquired
the habit. History does not state. The
necessity of a frequent smoke is felt.
and so the club has had to accommo-
date itself to it's members needs.
Presto! The pink of exclusiveness
with a cigarette between her lips ana
the air blue with smoke! The know
ing ones say that the library and re-
ception rooms are now deserted as a
rule, but the card room and the gray
room are full to OVERLOOKING and
mass of haze.
Not to be outdone, the hotels will
soon be forced to build smoking rooms
for the ladies, or else permit the filthy
weed in the lobbies The Francesca
has set the ball in motion. Who Is
going to follow?