Burley: Kentucky Tobacco in a New Century

Chapter 4. Tobacco’s Move from Self-Evident to Self-Conscious Tradition

125 Chapter 4 Tobacco’s Move from Self-Evident to Self-Conscious Tradition Between the early 1940s, when the Kentucky Department of Agriculture began publishing a newsletter, through the 1960s, the KDA’s coverage of tobacco quickly became increasingly self-conscious as threats to tobacco increased. Although the “health scares” began in the early 1950s, they were not directly remarked upon until the release of the surgeon general’s report in 1964. Tobacco was occasionally described as a “tradition” in this period, if it was labeled at all. While the “tradition” label marks a practice as self-conscious, it also implies continuity. Tobacco is thus presented as an ongoing practice, even though it is one that is reflected upon. THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE CIGARETTE The March 1944 issue of the KDA newsletter makes it clear that from the perspective of the Department of Agriculture, tobacco is an embraced commodity.The commissioner of agriculture applauds increased smoking rates in the United States and abroad and urges maximized per-acre production in order to keep up with demand. Both tobacco production and the prices that companies were paying to farmers were high during the Second World War, the period during which smoking rates increased the most in US history,1 as soldiers smoked cigarettes provided by the armed forces and came home addicted.2 In December 1944 and January 1945, the outlook for burley tobacco as reported in the KDA newsletter was good, although there was a cigarette shortage in 1944 that merited a congressional 126 The ShiFTing MeAningS oF ToBAcco investigation. According to the KDA, “just who [was] to blame” for the shortage “[was] difficult to determine,” because the government had not released manufacturing and sales data.3 In 1944, “domestic consumption of tobacco [was] at an all time high,” and military consumption was also high.4 At this time, there was as yet no reason for the KDA to mask its desire to see tobacco consumption continue to rise; rising rates of smoking were simply good for the economic future of the state. Immediately following the war, prices dropped, and throughout the later 1940s the KDA repeatedly advocated various efforts to increase foreign markets for burley, including the establishment of a new burley marketing organization. Huge crops were grown in 1945, due in part to the increased use of fertilizer and lime, which resulted in increased yields.5 This led to a drop in prices in 1946, followed by debates over whether or not to lower quotas. This is the cyclical pattern that remained in place through the end of the program: growing demand led to higher prices and calls for farmers to grow more tobacco; farmers grew more and saw prices drop and quotas cut as pool stocks—tobacco not bought and therefore held on loan until it was sold—grew. In January 1946, it was noted that “the recent slump of burley tobacco prices has caused grave concern among all Kentuckians for this crop is more than any other the basis of Kentucky prosperity,”6 reflecting the importance of tobacco economically not just for farmers but for the general well-being of “all Kentuckians.” Throughout this time, through both articles and direct appeals from the commissioner, the KDA actively encouraged farmers to vote to continue the tobacco program in referendums held every three years. Examples of coverage that treated tobacco as a self-evident aspect of the agricultural economy during this period include coverage of the KDA checking tobacco warehouse scales prior to the start of the tobacco marketing season, information about disease prevention and new farm technologies, and photos of Future Farmers of America (FFA) members selling tobacco. Photos of the young male members of the FFA selling their tobacco reflect the self-evident nature of tobacco at the time, as children’s involvement in raising tobacco was not yet questioned. Instead, such photos present the implicit argument that these are the tobacco growers of the future. In April 1946, there was a piece entitled “Profit from Hens Surpasses Tobacco,” a story about one farmer who raised a large flock of From Self-Evident to Self-Conscious Tradition 127 hens and made a greater profit from them than from his four acres of tobacco. Here and in similar articles in the newsletter sporadically over the years, tobacco income is understood as a yardstick by which to measure other farm income, highlighting its status...