History of Christmas Presents Tobacco

I remember giving cigars to my father for Christmas, back in the 1970’s and this was not uncommon. Tobacco had long been thought of as a suitable, uncontroversial and relatively inexpensive choice for a present. Indeed, cigarettes from the 1930's into the 1960’s were a very popular present.

The cigarettes were pretty cheap and so a full carton was only a moderately expensive gift. Many fathers and mothers got cigarettes for Christmas and many cigarette companies decorated their cartons with seasonal themes. They also packaged them different ways, 4 packs were not uncommon.

Cigarettes were given out as Christmas gifts to barbers, mailmen and even to teachers by grateful parents. Since most people smoked this was a safe gift, the only problem is you needed to make sure to get the person’s preferred brand. How times have changed? Below are several examples of classic Cigarette ads for Christmas.