Why,was smokeing popular in the upper class in the past and now in the present it is looked at as low class and why did roles reverse?
by 
HappyGoLucky
ANSWERS: 4
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Before smoking advertisements were verboten, smoking was portrayed in movies, tv and magazines as cool and sophisticated and classy. That was before there were any warning labels on cigarettes, etc. I'm not so sure smoking is observed as low class as it is moronically stupid because of all the information on its contribution to physical destruction. In California they've had a big anti smoking campaign because of it's eventual costs to the state in health care.
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I'm guessing that back when tobacco first came to Europe it would have been rare, therefore expensive, so only the rich could afford the indulgence. Unless any poor people out there could get a boat over to the US to bring some more back. I've been told that at one stage smoking was compulsory as it was thought to prevent some kind of disease (The Plague?). (I hope someone can confirm / deny this, otherwise you'll have to Google.) I hope someone can give you a better answer.
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Generally, when things come out to the public, completely new, it's generally only sold to the few who can afford to buy it- the rich. Now that we've realized what happens when you smoke, many people don't want it.
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being overweight. Years ago, (Victorian era) being overweight was an upper class trait as it was considered that you were heavy because you had the money to purchase lots of food - a peasant on the other hand, was poorer and therefore closer to starving from a lack of food. Today, we look at it differently - we see fat (obese) people was lower class, not because they have the money to buy extra food, but because they are eating poor quality food due to a lack of funds. Thinner people are seen as more affluent and therefore able to afford high quality healthy food.
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