BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT SEQUENCE:0 CONTACT:info@museumoflondon.org.uk ORGANIZER:Museum of London DTEND:20080921T190000 DTSTART:20080701T110000 UID:2009-11-28T11:10:26-05:00_196448687@socialweb1 DTSTAMP:20091128T111026 DESCRIPTION:*_From the first puff to the last gasp_* \nDid you know that ro ad traffic accidents in London kill less than 1 person each day\, while smo king cigarettes kills 1 Londoner every hour? Or that cigarette butts accoun t for 40% of the litter on London’s streets? Despite these bleak statistics 2 million Londoners regularly light up to enjoy a cigarette. One year on f rom the smoking ban\, The Big Smoke looks at the history of smoking in Lond on and life in the capital since the ban. \n \n \n \nOn 1 July 2007 smokin g was banned in all public places throughout England. It was greatly debate d\, widely publicised and much opposed. The small display looks at the impl ications of the ban\, from those that welcomed it\, those that suffered as a result of it and the extra measures taken by others to deal with it. Don’ t miss the tube containing one week’s worth of cigarette butts collected in the City of London from one square mile of stressed-out City workers. \n \ n \n \nFrom ornate smoking pipes to distinctive cigarette adverts\, the di splay will use objects and images from the Museum of London’s collections t o chart the history of smoking from the first introduction of tobacco to Lo ndon to the present day\, following changes in attitude over the centuries. The Big Smoke will also showcase the varying opinions on the current smoki ng ban and show its effects on London\, its businesses and people. \n \n \ n \nLondon was the centre of the tobacco trade from its first introduction to Britain in the mid 16th century. Walter Raleigh\, the Elizabethan explor er\, became a committed pipe-smoker and popularised the habit of smoking. B y 1614 there were 7000 tobacconist’s shops in the London area\, hitting the height of popularity in the 19th century. From the 1880s machines were pum ping out cigarettes at a rate of 300 per minute – tobacco companies used ad vertising to encourage mass consumption of this product and a national ciga rette-smoking habit was born. \n \n \n \nPictures of glamorous film stars \, Victorian gentlemen and smoky singers illustrate that smoking had become an integral part of everyday life\; the government used cigarettes in publ ic information campaigns\, tiny toy cigarettes were made for doll’s houses and the House of Commons had their own brand of smokes. \n \n \n \nCurato r Meriel Jeater says\, ‘London has been a centre of the tobacco trade and c onsumption for 400 years and this topical display will look at how attitude s to smoking have altered over this time. The recent ban on smoking in publ ic places is causing widespread changes and this display will showcase Lond oners’ opinions on the ban and how it is affecting their city. For some peo ple the new legislation is the final prompt they needed to quit smoking. Fo r others it is ruining their businesses. We want to know what Londoners thi nk.’ \n \n \n \nFollowing the discovery that smoking was linked to disease s such as lung cancer it soon became clear that smoking was seriously bad f or your health. Slowly attitudes towards smoking began to change and the di splay highlights an emergence of anti-smoking campaigns\; from the health w arnings on cigarette packets to the introduction of a smoking ban. A ban wo uld certainly help protect the health of those around the smokers but would it help smokers break their habit? \n \n \n \n SUMMARY:The Big Smoke LAST-MODIFIED:20080602T161826 CREATED:20080602T161645 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR