In the 1950s, it was a routine sight for a patient to buy cigarettes from a hospital bed. This practice reflected a vastly different public attitude toward smoking, which was still widely accepted and even promoted, despite growing awareness of its health risks.
How patients bought cigarettes in the 1950s
- Mobile carts: A hospital staff member would routinely wheel a cart through the wards, selling cigarettes along with magazines, snacks, and other items.
- Patient access: Patients could make their purchases without ever leaving their beds. One former nurse recalled doing shift reports in the coronary care unit while smoking, and other accounts describe patients and staff smoking throughout the hospital.
- Doctor’s approval: Some doctors at the time even endorsed specific cigarette brands in advertisements and would give patients permission to smoke, believing it could soothe them or suppress their appetite.
- Widespread prevalence: Smoking was deeply embedded in everyday life, with approximately 50% of adults in industrialized countries smoking in 1950.
