cigarette girl

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:01 PM -0400 10/14/07, Sam Clements wrote:
>Of course, we've all seen the 1920s-1930's and later movies with the
>doll in a skimpy outfit, hawking cigarettes in night clubs.
>
>But, I'm wondering where it came from.  I've checked OED, HDAS, and
>searched Google a little.  Not much luck.
>
>The term turns up as early as the 1880's using Newspaperarchive,
>with reference to a character in Carmen, the opera.
>
>Then, there is a horrible death of one Annie Goiodwin, in NY in
>1890.  She's always referred to as a "cigarette girl" but I can't
>find out why.
>
>Perhaps, if I wanted to spend a few more hours, I could come up with
>answer, but defer to the scholars on here.
>
>Sam Clements
>
>PS--Larry once posted his mother was a "cigarett girl" in NY in the
>30's.  Maybe he knows.
>

Well, it is too bad my mother isn't around to get some history from.
She did indeed work as a cigarette girl (complete with final -e!) for
many years in the 1930s.  Of course the term was already
well-established by then, not to mention the profession.

LH

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