Why did actors in the classic films always tap their Cigarettes?

[Atterbury Dodd]

You see it all the time in the old movies. Actor takes out a Cigarette, taps it, sticks it in his (or her) mouth and lights. Why did they do this? For any reason except to look cool? First noticed it in Spitfire with Leslie Howard.

 

[Yeps]

unless i am mistaken, they were packing the tobacco, that is, making sure there were no air bubbles that keep it from burning evenly. I could be wrong, but all of my friends who smoke cigs do this.

 

[carouselvic]

It packed the tobacco tighter, making it burn and draw differently.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

OK, that makes sense. For some reason I have never noticed it done nowadays.

 

[BellyTank]

I thought it was to pack the tobacco down and maybe leave a small gap to keep the tobacco out of one's mouth.


B
T

 

[anon`]

You pack them towards, not away from, the mouth. People still do it today, but usually with an entire pack, before opening it.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

You pack them towards, not away from, the mouth. People still do it today, but usually with an entire pack, before opening it.

Yep....gaps make things burn oddly.

So do cloves..but that's a story for another day...

 

[Ethan Bentley]

unless i am mistaken, they were packing the tobacco, that is, making sure there were no air bubbles that keep it from burning evenly. I could be wrong, but all of my friends who smoke cigs do this.

Yup I'd agree with this.

 

[JimWagner]

Most of the cigarettes from that era were unfiltered. Tapping and packing tightened them up so loose tobacco didn't fall out into your mouth. People doing that with filtered cigarettes are just copying the moves.

 

[Nick D]

My uncle always does this. Several of the other students in my department roll their own cigarettes and do as well.

 

[Feraud]

^^ Can you pack a self rolled smoke?
My neighbor rolls his own and I don't see enough structure to pack it.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

^^ Can you pack a self rolled smoke?
My neighbor rolls his own and I don't see enough structure to pack it.

I think that depends on -how- one rolls them....

perhaps your neighbour is just untidy/lazy.....lol

I have seen some self rolled that were just as nice looking as machine rolled.

 

[Andykev]

Doral Hand rolled?

I don't remember, was it Doral? You bought the "machine" and put in the paper, then the tobacco...slid the handle and it made a "factory" looking hand rolled cigarette. Was supposedly cheaper than buying a pack. Of course, we sold cigarettes for 35 cents, then they went to 40, 45, 47, and then 50 cents.
Long time ago.

The tapping of the cigarette is to pack the tobacco to make it burn more evenly. (Unfiltered cigarettes)

 

[conrad5157]

They did/do it for all of the reasons listed above, but I think the main reason is because it looks cool.

 

[rumblefish]

As anon', said the entire pack- before it was opened.
That's how we did it. But of course if someone gave you a cigarette and they didn't "pack" them, you could always tap it on your thumb nail. BTW, the two or three taps you see in the movies would amount to nothing, you would need at least twenty. It would make for a better smoke, not so hot and steamy.

 

[Shangas]

When I first saw this thread, I thought it was referring to tapping lit cigarettes...to which my answer would've been that it was to remove the burning ash.

But I didn't know about this! I learnt something today!

I'm an avid fan of the Granada 'Sherlock Holmes' series starring the late Jeremy Brett. In it, Dr. Watson (Hardwicke) is a rather avid cigarette-smoker and he always takes cigarettes out of his cigarette-case, closes the case and taps his smoke on the lid...I never knew why he did that until now!

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Yes, my Dad was a Phillip Morris, unfiltered, cigarette smoker. Most unfiltered smokers will tape the entire pack to compress the tobacco in all of the cigarettes at once. But the old school process was to remove the cigarette, give it a tap prior to putting between the lips and lighting. Uncompressed - and really, even compressed, the tobacco falls from the smoking end into the mouth and then requires either the traditional, thumb/forefinger tongue pick and the more cool, less couth tongue-tip spit.
My Dad did both! I remember it to this day.....and his yellow fingers!!

-dixon cannon

 

[Guttersnipe]

The definitive answer from a former (non-filter) smoker is . . .

. . . to pack the tobacco so it doesn't get in your mouth/teeth/lips. The manner in which modern smokers pack filter-tipped cigarettes is the opposite manner in which you want to pack non-filters (which is what everyone smokes in the old movies). Trust me, the whole "forces out air bubbles/gives a more even burn" myth, it makes no difference. There is now way, that I ever found anyways, to pack an entire pack of "humps/shorts," hence the double tap, which if you're really good at, does in fact pack the cigarette in two taps.

It's really hard to look graceful and sophisticated when you're picking little bits of tobacco out of your teeth. I smoked Camel non-filters for 10+ years, so I ought to know, right?.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Sure, it was to keep tobacco out of your mouth, but that was just a side effect. They didn't burn evenly, and sometimes they would flare up or the fire would fall off, if they hit an air pocket. Same reason a pipe smoker tamps the tobacco in the pipe, to get an even burn.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Experience taught me that packing cigarettes, with or without filters, is merely something people do out of habit. Yes, packing non-filtered cigarettes helps keep tobacco out of the teeth, but only marginally so. When I smoked, I hardly ever bothered - unless I wanted to look cool like Robert Mitchum - and I never found flare-ups or uneven burning to be a problem with good quality factory-made cigarettes.

When traveling in Europe, however, I couldn't find any non-filter brands I was used to, so I bought some God awful, dirt cheap, Easter European brand (they were Polish or Czech I think). Those things were so loosely rolled, and burned so uneven, it was comical! I wish I could remember what they were called . . .

Sure, it was to keep tobacco out of your mouth, but that was just a side effect. They didn't burn evenly, and sometimes they would flare up or the fire would fall off, if they hit an air pocket. Same reason a pipe smoker tamps the tobacco in the pipe, to get an even burn.