In the 1950s, selling cigarettes in hospitals was a routine, accepted practice, with staff often wheeling carts directly to patient bedsides to sell packs or cartons alongside snacks and magazines. Smoking was widely allowed in hospital rooms, waiting areas, and nurses’ stations, as tobacco was not yet widely recognized as a major health risk.
Patients could purchase cigarettes from carts without leaving their beds. Smoking was common in hospitals, with some doctors even permitting or recommending it, mistakenly believing it could soothe patients. Popular unfiltered brands like Camels, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, and Philip Morris were common.
Nurses and doctors often smoked in nursing stations, during reports, and while on duty. This practice reflects a period when tobacco was integrated into daily life and, in some cases, marketed as a health aid. This era preceded the widespread awareness of the dangers of smoking and the subsequent Surgeon General’s warnings.
The good old days. In the 1960s airlines meals were served with a pack of cigarettes and military rations included a small pack of smokes. I remember people handing out sample packs of cigarettes on the street and even getting them in the mail. People smoked in offices, automobiles, and darn near everywhere. I never had the habit, but a few dopes I went to school with thought smoking enhanced their image. All it did was make them smell like a cat-box full of cigarette butts.
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