By appointment to his royal highness The American Gentleman.
This picture depicts a young couple, carefree just before World War I became a life-altering presence. The couple lounges on a giant cigarette which floats gracefully above Parliament. Their elegant eveningwear speaks to their wealth. It was rare for a women to offer a man a cigarette, let alone hold one for herself in public. This ad, printed in the United Kingdom, suggests that women had more freedom in the UK than in the United States. Still, the woman is carefully not pictured smoking alone, and her pink dress and white gloves accentuate her femininity and propriety. The cigarettes are advertised as having cork tips, one of the first types of “filters” created for cigarettes. These filters were not meant to filter out irritants, but were rather designed to prevent loose, dried tobacco from being inhaled, which would then require unsightly spitting. Many cite the 1930s as the introduction of the first filters, when wadded up cotton was added to the tips of cigarettes; however, these cork tips are the true originators.
Female, Luxury, Male, romance, Royal
