Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Smoking in WW1, terms and 'names' for fags!


armourersergeant

Recommended Posts

I was wondering rather amblinly what the terms for cigarettes were during the war. Did they call them lucifers, fags, cigarettes? or or.....

Also what names were there in use? marlborough, players etc.

Pipe smokers, what did they smoke?

regards

Arm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coffin Nails!

Ogden's Rough Shag has been around an awful long time{pipe Baccy}

Lucifers were red headed matches

Woodbines {Hence Woodbine Willie~Rev Studdart Kennedy}

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Coffin Nails!

Ogden's Rough Shag has been around an awful long time{pipe Baccy}

Lucifers were red headed matches

Woodbines {Hence Woodbine Willie~Rev Studdart Kennedy}

Of course it was (lucifer!) Brain **** sorry!

thanks for the info

Arm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi

'Gaspers' was a term commonly used for cigs. Then you had the 3 Wishes (Army issue), Ruby Queen, Red Hussars and Half-a-mo.

Rations were 2 packets of 10 per week.

Cheers

Marc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mostly used terms that I have come across were

Cigs or Ciggies

Not sure Fags was used as much !

Glyn

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for alternative names for cigarettes, you also have whatever they are called in different parts of the country, as soldiers would take these local names with them. In the Black Country they were and still are known as "fakes" as in, "Hold on while I light my fake."

Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yanks had Stokies!~"short,but not too big around..."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Camel Dung (Egyptian cigarettes)

Fag

Gasper

Partridge dates this to 1912 as a military term popularised during World War I. It originally referred to an inferior cigarette, one that made the smoker ‘gasp’.

I’ve been making a study of issue fags, or ‘gaspers’ as they are vulgarly termed, and I would be glad if somebody would enlighten me on a certain point, which has puzzled me a lot. Who named the different brands?

1918 Kia Ora Coo-ee No. 4 October 15 p. 5

Coffin nails Cigarettes.

General US. From 1888 (OED, Lighter). Attested in numerous sources.

In World War I and beyond, Partridge notes, this was sometimes shortened to just ‘nail’.

Jit

Attested here and in Digger Dialects but not recorded otherwise.

Arthur and Ramson in Digger Dialects note: ‘A shortening of Gitane, the proprietary name of a French cigarette since 1910’.

The above were found here.

http://www.anu.edu.au/andc/res/aehist/wwi/annoted1.php

Cheers

Kim

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

thanks for the replies all

Arm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some other brands of the period: Gold Flake, Three Castles.

Gloria

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...