EARLY VICTORIANS.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 331, 12 January 1937, Page 2

EARLY VICTORIANS.

Smoking Was Common In Those Days.

To those good folk firmly imbued with the notion that there was little or no freedom for womanhood in the days of Queen Victoria, it will come as a shock to learn, not only that smoking was common among them at that period, but that in certain circles the habit reached proportions almost unknown to-day, writes a cor-

respondent. No less person than Charles Dickens has testified to the fact. Writing from the country to a friend in London, in 1846, he gav© the fol-

lowing experience:—■“On Friday last I dined with Lady A, and her daugh-

ter, Lady B —-both extremely clever and well-read women. The latter is

very pretty; not yet five and twenty, married, with two small- children. Lady A is plump, fresh, and rosy: matronly, but full of fun and good looks. During dnner the conversation sparkled to ths point of brilliancy, and I enjoyed myself hugely. In a pause, of the talk, as the meal neared its end, the younger lady suddenly said, ‘You smoke, Mr Dickens, I suppose?’ ‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘I usually have a cigar after dinner when alone.’ ‘All right,’ briskly rejoined the lady. ‘l'll give you a good ’un when we go upstairs.’

“Well, Ln due course we went ■ up- j stairs, where, shortly after, other visitors arrived —also mother and daughter; mother, with fluffy face, considerable development of figure, one peculiar eye, blue satin dress, cut very low, with shoes to match; daughter, likewise fluffy of face, and similar development of figure, and one eye showing signs of imminent queerness, dress of ditto satin also cut low, and shoes like her mother’s —who, I was told, had married at sixteen, which was now exactly the age of the daughter, and the two often passed for sisters. ‘Following this introduction, our hostess produced a box of cigars, warranted, she said, to quell an elephant in six whiffs. These cigars were very large, and certainly made of pretty strong tobacco—l had smoked them before, so was familiar with the brand. Having lighted my cigar, Lady B promptly lighted one for herself, leaned against the mantelpiece, folded her arms, and with ' her pretty face cocked up sideways, laughed and talked and smoked away like a factory chimney, in the most gentlemanly manner conceivable. Her mother, Lady A, soon followed suit, also smoking a cigar—as did the stout lady and daughter, so that in less than three minutes the room was simply a cloud of smokje, witjh five of us pulling away for dear life. “Between puffs, the stout lady informed us that she was in the habit of pipe-smoking when at home, and described for our edification the various shapes and kinds of pipes she preferred. Presently we were joined by some gentlemen, and a couple of whist parties were formed, during which game, for the next hour or two, the ladies smoked continuously—cigars were hardly ever out of their mouths. Lady B, especially, must have consumed six or seven. One was enough for me, and the rest of the party gave up gradually, but Lady B puffed away steadily the whole evening. “Of course, I showed no outward surprise; nevertheless, I must confess I felt surprised, for this was the first time I had seen ladies smoking cigars!”