Life — July 19, 1929 — page 36: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a 1929 advertisement for Lucky Strike cigarettes, not satire or political commentary. It features a glamorous woman's portrait (credited to "Myrna J. Darby, Noted Ziegfeld Beauty") endorsing cigarettes as a substitute for candy or sweets. The ad's pitch claims that the cigarette brand's "toasting" process removes throat irritation—a dubious health claim typical of early tobacco advertising. The tagline "Reach for a Lucky—instead of a sweet" marketed smoking as a weight-control alternative for women, a strategy that helped expand the female cigarette market during this era. This represents pre-regulation tobacco marketing, before health warnings were required.