A History of Tobacco

Delafontaine, Ramses

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-14292-0_10

Ramses Delafontaine⁴

Part of the book series: Studies in the History of Law and Justice ((SHLJ,volume 4))

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Abstract

In this first chapter on the historical aspects of the testimony of expert historians in tobacco litigation, I discuss the origin and rise of the tobacco industry and its product. There are seven key developments which I review here: flue-curing, safety matches, mechanization, the oligopolistic structure of the industry, World War I, taxation, and aggressive advertising campaigns. Their combined dynamic introduced, what Brandt has called: “The Cigarette Century.”

You must have a cigarette. A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can you want?

Oscar Wilde (1891)

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Notes

1.
For a visual history of cigarettes, see the website of the Tobacco Atlas, a project by the World Lung Foundation http://www.tobaccoatlas.org/uploads/Images/PDFs/TA4_pdf_history.pdf. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
2.
Gilman, Sander. 2007. A Smoking Century. The Lancet 369, 1594.
3.
Hall, Wayne. 2012. A Historian’s Indictment of the US Tobacco Industry. The Lancet 379, 1091.
4.
Brandt, Allan. 2007. The Cigarette Century. The Rise, Fall and Deadly Persistence of a Product that Defined America. New York: Basic Books, 19.
5.
Proctor, Robert. 2012. Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 27.
6.
Goodman, Jordan. 1993. Tobacco in History: the Cultures of Dependence. London: Routledge, 3–5.
7.
Proctor, as n. 5, 27.
8.
Brandt, as n. 4, 20.
9.
Proctor, as n. 5, 27.
10.
Goodman, as n. 6, 167.
11.
Goodman, as n. 6, 51–55.
12.
Brandt, as n. 4, 21.
13.
Brandt, as n. 4, 21.
14.
King James I. 1604. Counter-Blaste to Tobacco. Robert Barker: London. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/17008/17008-h/17008-h.htm. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
15.
See Part III, Sect. 1.2.6. Taxation, cfr. infra.
16.
Goodman, as n. 6, 60.
17.
Goodman, as n. 6, 61–70.
18.
Brandt, as n. 4, 21.
19.
Brandt, as n. 4, 22.
20.
Brandt, as n. 4, 25.
21.
Dickens, Charles. 1874. American notes; Pictures from Italy. London: Chapman and Hall, 130–131.
22.
Brandt, as n. 4, 25.
23.
Brandt, as n. 4, 25.
24.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
25.
Proctor, Robert. 2004. The Global Smoking Epidemic: A History and Status Report. Clinical Lung Cancer 5, 372.
26.
Proctor, as n. 5, 29.
27.
In an article from 2004 Proctor also distinguishes between the first six and the latter two events. See Proctor, as n. 25.
28.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
29.
Brandt, as n. 4, 24.
30.
Proctor, as n. 5, 33–34.
31.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372.
32.
Proctor, as n. 5, 32.
33.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372.
34.
Brandt, as n. 4, 24.
35.
Brandt, as n. 4, 24.
36.
Proctor, as n. 5, 34, 561.
37.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
38.
Proctor, as n. 5, 36.
39.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
40.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372.
41.
Proctor, as n. 5, 37.
42.
Proctor, as n. 5, 37.
43.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
44.
Proctor, as n. 5, 40.
45.
Brandt, as n. 4, 27.
46.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372.
47.
Proctor, as n. 5, 39.
48.
Brandt, as n. 4, 30.
49.
Proctor, as n. 5, 39.
50.
Proctor, as n. 5, 42.
51.
Proctor, as n. 5, 37.
52.
Proctor, as n. 5, 43.
53.
Proctor, as n. 5, 42–43.
54.
A market condition in which sellers are so few that the actions of any one of them will materially affect price and have measurable impact on its competitors.
55.
Brandt, as n. 4, 34–37.
56.
Brandt, as n. 4, 31–34.
57.
The Antitrust Act of July 2, 1890, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1–7, also called the Sherman Antitrust Act. http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/divisionmanual/chapter2.pdf. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
58.
Brandt, as n. 4, 39.
59.
U.S. Supreme Court, United States v. American Tobacco Co., 221 U.S. 106, 193 (1911). http://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/221/106/case.html. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
60.
Brandt, as n. 4, 40–41. Settling and extralegal strategies are favourite tactics of the tobacco industry as we shall see; for example in Part III, Sect. 13.2.2. The Master Settlement Agreement & Part III, Sect. 13.4.2. Game II: The Second Wave of Tobacco Litigation, cfr. infra.
61.
Brandt, as n. 4, 41. Similar sentiments were common after the settlements by the tobacco industry in the 1990s, see Part III, Sect. 13.2.2. The Master Settlement Agreement, cfr. infra.
62.
Brandt, as n. 4, 40–41.
63.
Brandt, as n. 4, 93.
64.
Ten cent cigarettes. See Brandt, as n. 4, 93.
65.
Brandt, as n. 4, 41–42.
66.
Brandt, as n. 4, 95.
67.
Brandt, as n. 4, 42–43.
68.
Proctor, as n. 5, 42.
69.
Sloan, Frank, Trogdon, Justine, and Mathews, Carrie. 2005. Litigation and the Value of Tobacco companies. Journal of Health Economics 24, 427–429.
70.
We will come back to this topic at a later point in this book. See Part III, Sect. 13.3.2. Smaller Cases, cfr. infra.
71.
Brandt, as n. 4, 42.
72.
See, for example: Part III, Sect. 13.4.1. Game I: The First Wave of Tobacco Litigation, cfr. infra.
73.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
74.
Brandt, as n. 4, 45.
75.
Brandt, as n. 4, 46–47.
76.
Ford, Henry. 1914. The Case Against the Little White Slaver. Vol. I-IV. Detroit: Henry Ford. http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015071599628;page=root;view=1up;size=100;seq=1;orient=0. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
77.
Brandt, as n. 4, 48.
78.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372.
79.
Brandt, as n. 4, 50–51.
80.
Brandt, as n. 4, 51.
81.
Proctor, as n. 25, 372–373.
82.
Brandt, as n. 4, 52–53.
83.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
84.
See Part III, Sect. 10.1. The Early History of the Nicotiana Tabacum, cfr. supra.
85.
Proctor, as n. 25, 373.
86.
Proctor, Robert. 1999. The Nazi War on Cancer. New York: Princeton University Press, 234–237.
87.
Japan is a special case because the Japanese government is itself a leading tobacco manufacturer. The same goes for China, where in addition one third of all the cigarettes made in the entire world are produced.
88.
Proctor, as n. 25, 373.
89.
Proctor, as n. 5, 28.
90.
Proctor, as n. 25, 373.
91.
Brandt, as n. 4, 54–56.
92.
Brandt, as n. 4, 89.
93.
In his introduction “The Camel Man and Me”, Brandt describes how he was fascinated as a seven year old boy by the Camel billboard looming above Times Square in New York city. “The Camel Man blew endless perfect smoke rings into the neon-lit night sky.” Brandt, as n. 4, 1–5.
94.
Brandt, as n. 4, 70.
95.
Brandt, as n. 4, 105.
96.
Proctor, as n. 25, 373.
97.
Log on to YouTube and type in search words as “tobacco ads 1950” or “tobacco ads Flintstones.” If you continue to broaden your search a little, you will be amazed by the amount and variety of adds featuring several notable actors, for example John Wayne and Sylvester Stallone. The same goes for pictures of tobacco ads that can be found with a Google search. One particular example features Ronald Reagan in an ad for Chesterfields.
98.
Brandt, as n. 4, 56.
99.
Brandt, as n. 4, 57–65.
100.
Brandt, as n. 4, 80–88.
101.
Brandt, as n. 4, 80.
102.
Brandt, as n. 4, 65.
103.
Brandt, as n. 4, 72.
104.
The term “replacement smokers” is an actual term used be the tobacco companies in their internal documents. For example, an internal tobacco industry document from 1984 which discussed the importance of younger adult smokers, stated that: “Younger adult smokers are the only source of replacement smokers.” Burrows, Diane. 1984. Younger Adult Smokers: Strategies and Opportunities. LTDL. Bates Number: 505458066/8160. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/bot15d00. Accessed on 31 Oct 2014. See also Brandt, as n. 4, 387–388, 503. The term was also used in the final verdict in the case US v. Philip Morris et al., in which Judge Kessler convicted the tobacco companies for fraud against the American public, see Part III, Sect. 14.3. The Final Judgment by Judge Kessler, cfr. infra. For the verdict see http://www.library.ucsf.edu/sites/all/files/ucsf_assets/FinalOpinion_full_version.pdf. Accessed 31 Oct 2014.
105.
Brandt, as n. 4, 75.
106.
Brandt, as n. 4, 77.
107.
Starr, Michael. 1984. The Marlboro Man: Cigarette Smoking and Masculinity in America. Journal of Popular Culture 17, 45, 54–57.
108.
Brandt, as n. 4, 264.
109.
Brandt, as n. 4, 67.
110.
Brandt, as n. 4, 67.
111.
Brandt, as n. 4, 97.
112.
Brandt, as n. 4, 99.
113.
Brandt, as n. 4, 100.
114.
Brandt, as n. 4, 100.
115.
Brandt, as n. 4, 19, 67, 101, 260.

Bibliography

Brandt, Allan. 2007. The cigarette century. The rise, fall and deadly persistence of a product that defined America. New York: Basic Books.
Google Scholar
Gilman, Sander. 2007. A smoking century. The Lancet 369: 1593–1594.
Article Google Scholar
Goodman, Jordan. 1993. Tobacco in history: The cultures of dependence. London: Routledge.
Google Scholar
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Article Google Scholar
Proctor, Robert. 1999. The Nazi war on cancer. New York: Princeton University Press.
Google Scholar
Proctor, Robert. 2004. The global smoking epidemic: A history and status report. Clinical Lung Cancer 5: 371–376.
Article Google Scholar
Proctor, Robert. 2012. Golden Holocaust: Origins of the cigarette catastrophe and the case for abolition. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Google Scholar
Sloan, Frank, Justine Trogdon, and Carrie Matthews. 2005. Litigation and the value of tobacco companies. Journal of Health Economics 24: 427–447.
Article Google Scholar
Starr, Michael. 1984. The Marlboro Man: Cigarette smoking and masculinity in America. Journal of Popular Culture 17: 45–57.
Article Google Scholar

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FWO Fellow at Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
Ramses Delafontaine

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Delafontaine, R. (2015). A History of Tobacco. In: Historians as Expert Judicial Witnesses in Tobacco Litigation. Studies in the History of Law and Justice, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14292-0_10

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14292-0_10
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