Poster featuring an illustration of a cigarette the smoke from which spells out the word 'Cancer', probably produced by the Central Council for Health Education, London, England, c.1957-1965.

Smoke from the cigarette spells ‘cancer’. This early public awareness poster was likely created by the Central Council for Health Education during the late 1950s. The Council was responsible for public health education. The poster came a few years after research in the 1950s by British scientists Richard Doll and Austin Bradford Hill. They conclusively proved smoking harmed health.

Approximately six million people in Britain died from tobacco-related diseases between 1950 and 2000.