WWII and Smoking

The Smokers

            With the ending of WWII, the returning soldiers brought lots of the habits home with them from the war.  One of them was the cigarette, a new icon for masculinity.  Have the cigarette draped on the edge of the lips hanging out the side of the mouth, was the new cool.  The roaring Twenties and the Speakeasy, was probably the first chapter in smoking to be acceptable across the general population.  Until then it had been the stodgy backrooms and boardrooms of cigars and pipes.  Then there was the cowboy with his funny rolled weed pile that smoked away. 

            During WWII rations were the common meal for those on the frontlines.  The ration pack, generally included a chocolate bar and a small pack of cigarettes.  When the young man from back home had his first ration meal, he was confronted with a pack of cigarettes.  Most had never smoked before and were not sure.  They were surrounded by the city boys who had been smoking for years and would trade for the cigarettes.  These puffers of smoke looked cool, so the youngsters from the country sampled the tobacco.  It was a new experience that grew on many of the youngsters.   Soon, to smoke became a status symbol of acceptance into the group. 

            Besides having cigarettes, one had to have a lighter and the Zippo became the hallmark of smokers.  There were other lighters, many that looked like the Zippo but none were equal of the Zippo.  Unlike today of the disposable lighter, lighters back then could be refilled.  Refueling the lighter became a ritual and different techniques were sworn on by the different people. 

            A few tried using gas from the jeep and it worked until it exploded or burned as hole in their leg.  So the little cans of lighter fluid and flints, became as prominent icon as the lighter did.  In the duffle bag, beside the cigarettes, was the can of lighter fluid and the flints. 

            Sitting on the front lines after the C-Rations were consumed, one could see the waffs of smoke curing up from the after meal cigarette.  Through war, the cigarette had found its way into American Society.  To smoke brought acceptance of the group.  War movies back then, showed the dying soldiers last request, was to have one more cigarette.  GI’s were shown with cigarettes hanging from their mouths as they fired at the enemy. 

            Today that image is being revisited by Hollywood on how they portray their heroes and cigarettes.