Wartime cigarette package, metal match case, and brass lighter. Artifacts
courtesy The Calgary Highlanders Museum.
Cigarette smoking was extremely
popular in the 1940s, in civil as well as military life, at a time when the health risks
associated with the practice were not well known. Many men picked up the habit as a
result of their military service, and the hardships they had to face. Cigarettes
were given as gifts by charitable organizations, as well as being part of the daily
rations. This created trouble in England, where shortages of cigarettes in the
civilian world led to a large black market for the product.
More than one Canadian has reported that their German
enemies always smelled of Turkish tobacco, and wondered if the Germans thought that the
Canadians in turn smelled of Virginia tobacco.