World

1922: Sight of Women Smoking A Cigar Shocks Paris

Credit…International Herald Tribune

Paris has had plenty of shocks from tourists, but it remained for the present invasion to scandalise Continental society absolutely. It was the advent of cigar-smoking women, not in the quiet corners of their homes, but in a public restaurant. Last night, while Ciro’s was filled to stifling with American visitors, even the waiters gasped when an elderly and matronly woman calmly called for a match, stuck a big black Havana into an amber holder and began to puff contentedly. A few minutes later, a blonde who persisted in talking about her Chicago experiences added to the excitement by borrowing the cigar from the elderly woman and smoking it to the very end. Then, apparently satisfied with the sensation they had caused, both women called for brandy night-caps and escaped from the crowd before their identity could be learned.

— The New York Herald, European Edition, April 22, 1922.

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