Hospital sign, England, 1960-1975

Hospital sign bearing the message "visitors are requested to refrain from smoking - in the wards", from the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England c1960-1975

At a time when smoking is banned in pubs and clubs, the idea of visitors smoking in hospital wards is almost unimaginable. Yet this sign is from a time, not so long ago, when visitors needed reminding.

The links between smoking and lung cancer were only beginning to be fully appreciated in the wider society in the 1960s and at the time there were relatively few restrictions on where people could and could not smoke.

The sign was used at the Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, England.