Goofy’s Coffin Nails

When it comes to the politics of tobacco regulation, one of the most important dates is January 11, 1964, when then-Surgeon General Luther L. Terry presented to the public his now famous report on the health risks of smoking. It is now often implied by anti-tobacco activists that before that time, the American public was tragically ignorant about the downside of smoking. Sure, the tobacco companies had the research, they say, but being the evil organizations they were, they suppressed this vital public health information in the names of making piles of dirty, dirty money.

Could this really be true? Did people in the 1950s and before really not know that nicotine was addictive or that tobacco smoke was bad for your lungs? Not according to the following Disney short from 1951, “No Smoking.” Just watch what happens when smoke-fiend Goofy tries to quit his dirty habit.

Link from Boing Boing.