“Trick Cigar Blows Man’s Head Off”
In a new online exhibition, The University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society examines tobacco in the tabloids.
- Tabloids and tobacco: “TRICK CIGAR BLOWS MAN’S HEAD OFF”
By The Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society, April 18, 2024
This exhibition is drawn from the Center’s collection of supermarket tabloid newspapers with stories about smoking in the 40 years following the publication in 1964 of the Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health—when the few early anti-smoking messages by the American Cancer Society and other health organizations were being drowned out by the torrent of cigarette ads on TV (until 1971), on billboards, at sports events, and in newspapers and magazines.
Because of the tabloids’ large circulation and their readers’ lower educational attainment compared to the major newsweeklies TIME, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report — which were heavily dependent on cigarette advertising and minimized their coverage of smoking and cancer — these publications could have played a life-saving role in educating the public about the devastating health consequences of cigarette smoking.
Instead, they, too, passed the buck.
Read more on the Cancer History Project.
Related articles by the Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society
- The boy who cried vape: Philip Morris International calls for a smoke-free world, Jan. 19, 2024
- How tobacco companies sold women a pack of lies, Nov. 2, 2023
- Like father, like son: How tobacco companies targeted families in the 20th century, June 8, 2023
- Coronations, cigarette companies, and cancer, May 5, 2023
- Exhibit: When cigarette filters were made of asbestos, April 13, 2023
- How a two-faced media covered cancer: Promoting research—and cigarettes, April 29, 2022
This column features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.
The Cancer History Project is a free, web-based, collaborative resource intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act and designed to continue in perpetuity. The objective is to assemble a robust collection of historical documents and make them freely available.
Access to the Cancer History Project is open to the public at CancerHistoryProject.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @CancerHistProj, or follow our podcast.
Is your institution a contributor to the Cancer History Project? Eligible institutions include cancer centers, advocacy groups, professional societies, pharmaceutical companies, and key organizations in oncology.
To apply to become a contributor, please contact admin@cancerhistoryproject.com.
