Laurel outlook., 1948-05-19
American Smokers
Puff One Billion
Cigarettes Daily
Per Capita Consumption Of
Coffin Nails looms
To 1924 a Year

Observation-Disclosures devo-
tees in the United States are blow
ing smoke rings to the tune of one
billion cigarettes a day.
The wartime business boom gave
a terrific boost to cigarette smok-
ing, especially among teen-agers
and women with good-paying jobs.
Sales of factory-made cigarettes
jumped from 172 billion in 1889 to
352 billion, more than double, in
1916. The latter figures indicates
a per capita consumption of 1924.
Thirty-five years ago the respect
able cigar-smoking businessman re-
garded the smoker of a factory
made cigarette as a sort of social
outcast.
He-men who rolled their own or
relished a chew of tobacco looked
upon smokers of tailor-mades as
sissies or college dudes.
Back in the spittoon era many
members of congress were tobacco
chewers and proud of it. A typical
newspaper advertisement of the
period pictured Speaker Joseph Can
non of Illinois, with the caption:
The thinking men of America chew
- twist.
Today the factory-made cigarette
not only has wide social acceptance
but is a stable item in the national
economy. 1t is estimated that the
cigarette tax increases the u. S.
Labor Departments consumer price
index by nearly l per cent.
In 1916 American consumers paid
a total of "a billion dollars for to-
bacco products and smoking sup
plies. The 1929 expenditure for to-
bacco products was IT billion dol
lars.
Cigar Use Falls Off
Treasury tax experts, who re-
Gently made a study of tobacco
use, report that cigarettes in 1916
accounted for II per cent Of the
total tobacco used in production.
Back in 1915 cigarettes accounted
for only 10 per cent.
The use of cigars and smoking to-
bacco (for pipe and ~rollyour-own
cigarettes) has had a big drop in the
past 80 years. The biggest slump
has been in tobacco chewing. Con-
sumption recently was less than
one-third that of 1918.
Cigar smoking in this country
reached a peak of 81 billion cigars
in 1920, the silk shirt year. 1t
dropped to As billion in depression
1888, picked up some in the years
Immediately before and during the
war.
Government research experts say
there has been ga significant de-
cline" in cigar consumption since
February, 1947. They explain that
recent increases in the cost of liv-
may have affected the demand.
Price Increases
Consumers recently were paying
) cents apiece for cigars which be-
lore the war sold at two for 5 cents,
an increase of 40 per cent.
Changes in smokers income or in
price of cigarettes seem to have
ldo Oiiy lllOQCl due cllGCl Oh Vic |
demand. Between 1929 and 1913, a
which included many de-
preston years, average changes in
of cigarettes consumed were
ess than half as large as the aver
age changes in income levels.
Other government surveys have
Indicated that in hard times many
people cut clothing and even food
purchases before reducing their
customary purchases of cigarettes
md gasoline.
The consumption of snuff has been
unchanged for about 30
ears. T~hirty-four million pounds
we're produced in 1916, forty-one
million pounds in 1929 and thirty
tx million pounds in 1888. The pro-
peak was 43, 300, 900 pounds
1945. Z