1908: Women Banned from Smoking Publicly in NYC

NO PUBLIC SMOKING BY WOMEN NOW; The Sullivan Ordinance, to be Passed by the Aldermen Today, Makes It Illegal. WILL THE LADIES REBEL As the Ladies of New Amsterdam Did When Peter Stuyvesant Ordered Them to Wear Broad Flounces?

January 21, 1908 (NYTimes) After to-day it will be against the law for a hotel or restaurant proprietor, or any one else managing or owning a "public place" to allow women to smoke in public. After a brief hearing yesterday the Committee on Laws of the Board of Aldermen unanimously approved the Sullivan anti-smoke ordinance which will be reported to-day and will pass the Board of Aldermen without the slightest doubt. Continued

Photo: Library of Congress