Here's something our ancestors in the early 20th century would have commonly seen and perhaps believed. These endorsements of cigarettes are something you would never see in the media today. Cigarette ads and commercials were banned in 1970 when people started realizing the harmful effects of smoking. This advertisement was printed in 1937:
Evelyn Chandler, figure skater: "What an asset good digestion is! I smoke Camels during meals and after. They do help to keep my digestion in order."
Gene Sarazen, golf champion: "I've walked, I guess, thousands of miles around golf courses with Camels. They never throw my nerves out of tune".
Cortland Standard, Cortland, New York, 1937.
To learn more about health effects from smoking, visit https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/index.htm