Smoking cigarettes and watching Captain Kangaroo

Its time for a public service announcement.

Yup, you saw it here. Be black and your kids will have a better life. Na, just kidding! The message is pretty obvious: don't smoke around your children. Anyone who has been by my house has most likely been introduced to this particular piece of literature. That and a picture of two cats doing it.

I found this particular gem in a dusty folder a few summers ago when I happened to have nothing better to do than clean the Melita Town Office's filing cabinets. This was just one of a few really cool finds. I'll have to show off a few of the other things later, but right now let's discuss whats going on here.

This is an anti-smoking brochure from 1977 published by the Canadian Lung Association. According to what I can find online, 1977 was a mixed year for the people who fight big tobacco companies. Finland passed major anti smoking laws that year, and the anti-smoking movement was on the rise. But meanwhile, scientists proved connections between pregnant mothers smoking and unhealthy newborn babies to be inconclusive.
Being that this brochure is from 1977, you have to wonder what influences from around the globe and the media factored in on the decision to design the brochure the way it is. Some of my friends have called it 'Semi-racist propaganda.' I can see where they're getting that, but its not really there unless you're looking for it. That said, it's pretty obvious that the white family DOES smoke, while the black one DOES NOT.

What is the reason for this?

One idea I wish to explore is the prevalence of smoking in the media. From 1950 to 1960, the number of incidences of smoking in movies was around ten times per hour. That means every hour in a movie there were ten scenes of people smoking. This doesn't sound like much, but if you do the math, that's like one smoke every six minutes!

The level of people smoking in movies dropped down to their lowest levels between 1975-1985 averaging about 6.7 cigarettes an hour at their lowest.

But the whole point is moot because the number of real-life people smoking is at its lowest level ever. I also can't say with any good authority that it wasn't black people smoking, but if you watch classic movies you'll definitely see a lot of dapper young white men and women puffing away.

This is true especially when you compare it to the 50s when everybody wore hats and smoked. One of those things doesn't really happen anymore, so its not inconceivable that the other one might go out of fashion too.

If its not movies that influenced this pamphlet, then what? It couldn't be radio, since smoking is hard to glamorize in a purely auditory way *cough* *hack* *cough* Hard to imagine why. So that leaves television. If you think about it, how many black families on TV in 1977 smoked, and how many white families smoked?

White:

I Love Lucy (1951-1957) - Was sponsored by Phillip Morris, Ricky loved smoking

The Flintstones (1960-1966) - Fred and Barney were Winstons Cigarettes men

The Addams Family (1964-1966) - Brought to you by Dutch Master Cigars

Black:

None (I'm not sure how many Black families were on TV when smoking could still be allowed)

And the final ad for smokes on American television was 1971, January 1st right after Johnny Carson. So if advertising ended then, and so did pretty much most of the smoking in sitcoms, how did a brochure from 1977 decide to make such a stark contrast between smoking and non-smoking?

Thus far my research has been inconclusive. I can't find any shows newer than 1970 that contain smoking. The Jeffersons certainly didn't smoke, what about the folks from All in the Family? Or Three's Company? Or Laverne and Shirley? They didn't either apparently. I would gladly welcome anyone with open arms who can give me evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps in the end I'm reaching for a conclusion that simply isn't there. It could be the marketers for the Canadian Lung Association were hoping to appeal to black families, or maybe simply catch the attention of potential readers. Racial divisions in Canada were much greater in 1977 than they are in 2008. Right now as of the last cencus, Black Canadians represent %2.5 of our nation's total population; That's nearly 800,000 people.

If you'll look at this chart, you'll notice that between 1971 and 1981, the black population jumps by 205,100 people. Between this period the brochure in question was printed. Is this an attempt by the Canadian government to normalize the appearance of all these dark coloured people?

Take it from me, there are communities that exist in Canada with people who are just as bigoted and racist as some people were forty years ago. So I wouldn't find it hard to believe that the government might take some proactive action to try and normalize blacks into what was at the time a predominately white society. (This despite the fact that we all like to say Canada is a mosaic of cultures).

But nonetheless, the message still stands. Don't smoke with your baby on your lap. Babies don't really enjoy smoking all that much. Although it does look like little Jenny on mommy's lap is reaching for a puff of somebody's dart.

You can see the entire brochure here at my flikr page.

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