I'm reading the Emperor of All Maladies and one interesting quote (out of very, very many good ones =P) stuck out to me;
"Wars generally stimulate two industries, ammunition and cigarettes, and indeed both the World Wars had potently stimulated the already bloated tobacco industry. Cigarette sales had climbed to stratospheric heights in the mid-1940's and continued to climb in the '50s."
The most obviously conclusion I could come to is that the relatively long periods of boredom involved in an infantry soldier's life predisposes them to a smoking habit and that the soldiers bring that habit back to civilian life after the war. Their glamorous status as warriors glorifies their habits and causes them to become more widespread.
Is there anything to this theory? Are there any numbers/studies to back it up? Thanks!
You were close with your assumption! Actualy, the reason was actualy because the US started to give out a daily tobacco ration to all of the soldiers and they all developed the smoking habit because of this. Here is a graph of the US cigarette usage you wanted
From my statistcs class, we were actualy watching about the relation between smoking and lung cancer, and it also talks about the increase in smoking and the relation to Lung Cancer due to the rations in WW1, you can see that in the graph above.
Sources:
"Getting Tobacco to the American Troops." oldmagazinearticles. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2014. http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/WW1-Cigarettes_pdf.
Against all odds--inside statistics. Intellimation, 1989. Film.
