le thy rosvarcher Dont usu * Molen 1 “NN, reer" Jennifer Molen Connie Douglas Writing 1101 4 November 2014 Evolution of Tobaceo Use In this pape Dwill explore the use of tobacco. First,(will discuss the history of tobacco, fa io second, advertising, and third, race and gendi re te Sion of tobacco was in 600 AD-by. cave drawings dees by the Mayan Indians. In 1612, the first American colony in Jamestown started 5 growing tobacco which was their main source of money. It was not until the 1800's when people began to use tobacco for other reasons besides nerf people chewed tobacco while others smoked it in apipe, or a hand-rolled cigarette or oils 1865, the first commercial cigarettes were produced in Raleigh, North Carolina by Washington Duke. These cigarettes were sold to soldiers at the end of the Civil War. Throughout the 1800's, cigarettes were hand-rolled until a man named James Bonsack invented a machine that made cigarettes. This machine was invented in 1881 and was the cause of widespread cigarette smoking because it was easier and faster to produce cigarettes. Bonsack started a business with Duke's son who went by the name Buck. Together they built a factory that produced ten million cigarettes in their first year and rose to one billion cigarettes five years later. Duke of Durham ‘was the first brand of cigarettes which came with baseball cards, trying to attract baseball lovers. Buck ‘and his father Washington started the American Tobacco company which was the first tobacco company in the United States. ‘The American Tobacco Company was the largest company until the early 1900's. By then, there ‘were several competitors making cigarettes and in 1902, Philip Morris came out with Marlboro, a well kaown baolfiaene companies sold cigarettes mainly to men until World War I (WWI) and World War Il (WWII). Cigarettes were given to soldiers overseas for free and since production of cigarettesMolen 2 were rising, they were being sold to women as well. Due to WWII, independence increased for women and many of them went from being housewives to being working women of America, On lunch breaks, many workers went out for a smoke and now that women were working, they began smoking nfl By the 1940's, cigarette production rose to three hundred billion per year. Most of these cigarettes went to the soldiers in the wai By 1964, there was a little awareness of the high amounts of nicotine and tar, which causes cancer. The Surgeon General of the United States wrote about the dangers of smoking. This report cause Congress to pass the Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act which stated that cigarette packs must have a label on the pack saying that they may be hazardous to your health. The Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act “encouraged” producers to come out with a new brand of cigarettes that contained lower amounts of nicotine and tar. Since the 1980's, the government and private companies have taken actions that prohibit smoking in public places. In 1990, the airlines prohibited people from smoking on flights that are less than six hours. Another thing the government has done to decrease cigarette consumption is by increasing taxes on cigarettes. Also itis illegal to advertise cigarettes due to a law passed by Congress =) Advertisements today have dramatically changed since the 1950's. In the 50's, cigarettes were >» the next big thing. Producers created advertisements to try to draw people into buying their cigarettes. —_ ‘These advertisements made smoking look cool and drew people into the social setting of smoking. The sdvertisements in the 1950's focused predominately on white women. The message these advertisements were trying to portray was that smoking was sexy. In (observations I saw groups of friends going out and smoking together(Dobserved them sitting close together laughing and joking ACY abour MuTure _————_~ round. They seemed very comfortable with each other. This created a social setting that advertisements in the 1950's portrayed. Advertisements try and promote a social setting of fitting in andMolen 3 being apart of the cool crowd could happen for you if you smoke cigarettes. Another observatiox(I) ‘made was one of the guys was wearing a red hat. The fact tha{ Twas drawn to his red hat related to advertising. In advertisements, advertisers try to catch attention of viewers by using bright colors, a minimum of wording, or provocative imaging. Also(i)made an observation that some of the guys smoking had skateboards. Media, another form of advertisement, portrays that skateboarders are smokers. Advertisements have changed over the years and now it is illegal to advertise smoking; however, the media will always find ways to, under the table, advertise smoking. Take the television (TV) show Mad Men for example. Mad Men is set in the 1960's in New York City. The characters work in an advertising company, which is where the name “mad men” came from. The show focuses on stories of the smaller firms in New York City. Donald Draper, creator of the company, is the main [ source of these stories. Draper's creative brilliance comes from his troubled childhood which he is very ) picky on who knows about his childhood. His hard childhood shaped him into the man he is as an | advertiser. Draper has this passion to sell products but as well as sell himself to the world. The confidence Draper heavily portrays also allows people to see his insecurities through his vices, ‘womanizing, drinking, and smoking. Even though America does not put smoking advertisements on billboards anymore, media plays a huge part in advertising smoking. [7 {€ "GW During fa} observations {noticed that on day one there was one girl and three guys who were smoking and on day two, all eight people smoking were males. This posed a question; is the smoking industry predominately male? During the World Wars, most soldiers were male and cigarettes were given to soldiers in the wars. Also, in the 1900's tobacco companies sold cigarettes mainly to nef Another observaton{i nade ‘was the race of all the smokers, Caucasian, During the 1950's, most of the advertisements pictured white male and female smoker is, before the freedom of slavery, even Cit tts] aeMolen 4 though slaves worked in tobacco fields, tobacco was accessible to the Caucasian owners. Just like the World Wars, cigarettes were given to soldiers during the Civil War. Most of the soldiers in the Civil ‘War were Caucasian; however, there were African Americans who fought in the Walfpuring the beginning of the tobacco industry, smoking had a negative connotation amongst African Americans and Native Americans. This is another reason why smoking tobacco gravitates to Caucasians. One thing()}end to do when observing isto ask questions. Something(T pbserved was two groups of people smoking in the same area who would occasionally look at each other but not say or do anything. This made fi8 question ‘whether or not smoking is a competition to be “cool” or fit into society. Advertising plays a huge role in telling us how we should act and what we should do. ‘Advertisements feed into society's desire to be the best and fit in. Nour qutstion about why peeple smoke is a Nery iMteresting ‘tepic te atiscuss. Liked how your used a Nistericel foundation about telaces + aive Hu veader different ideay about tte answer te His quesHon. ME were writing your expec, E would talk abeut your observations more,