Smoking

[skitzo12]

i doubt it
but either way, you would be suprised at the number of young people that smoke, so as has been said, if he didn't  actually smoke it was probably because of an age issue.

and as has also been said, smoking was the norm back then, alo of people did it.

[carkuczyn]

i think i remember seeing a picture of maria sitting in a boat smoking.  i would have to search for it and i will post it if i do find it.

[Justine]

i think i remember seeing a picture of maria sitting in a boat smoking.  i would have to search for it and i will post it if i do find it.

you mean this one?

[Olishka~ Pincess]

Oh yeah I Seen that picture before I did not notice Maria was smoking but I saw Nicky smoking. Notice that Maria is holding a cigarette in her hand and her other hand is turning the boat. Maria's expression is blurry it looks like she is not to happy with something.

[carkuczyn]

yes, Justine!!!.....where did you find this picture?

[Sarushka]

It's on page 158 of Private World of the Last Tsar.

[Karlie]

This may be a little off topic but how much would a pack of cigarettes cost in compare to the average peasants salary and how many cigarettes came in a pack then.

(Sorry for the apparently random question, I need the info for a novel I’m writing.)

[azrael7171918]

 You don't think of cigarettes then as we do today. I remember my father who started smoking in the 30s talking about buying cigarettes one at a time not so much in a pack. They could also have rolled their own.

azrael

[Teddy]

I don't know.  This photo looks like pretty incriminating evidence to me.

Its not Alexei!

[Aliss_Kande]

I don't know.  This photo looks like pretty incriminating evidence to me.

Its not Alexei!

Then who is it?

[Sarushka]

That is definitely Aleksei. He's pushed up his cap and pulled a face for the camera. The photo appears in one of the IF's private albums, among other pictures taken the same day in which Aleksei is clearly recognizable. There's a whole little series of him and Anastasia taken on that bridge during their house arrest at the AP.

[Natasya]

Yes, I've seen a clearer version before...most definately him.

[mr_harrison75]

What's so offensive in the fact that Aleksei was smoking? Smoking was not bad for health in those days...

The pictures don't lie; The Tsar was a chain smoker, the Grand-Duchesses smoked, and Aleksei did. End of story. 

[Olishka~ Pincess]

What's so offensive in the fact that Aleksei was smoking? Smoking was not bad for health in those days...

The pictures don't lie; The Tsar was a chain smoker, the Grand-Duchesses smoked, and Aleksei did. End of story. 

Of course somking was always bad for your health but today more chemicals are being put into to make it even more dangerous. You never know someone could have photoshoped them or they may have been pretending. Anyway they did not know the dangers of smoking like we do.

[Sarushka]

You never know someone could have photoshoped them or they may have been pretending. Anyway they did not know the dangers of smoking like we do.

They weren't pretending, and the photos weren't altered. The children talk about smoking cigarettes from their father in their letters and diaries. The photos on Beinicke and in books like Anastasia's Album and Nicholas & Alexandra: The Family Albums have not been altered -- they all show the children smoking. You're absolutely right that smoking wasn't perceived as dangerous then. There was also no social stigma attatched to smoking, so most people smoked. That's all there is to it.

The captions in some books will try to convince you that the children are only pretending, but that's not true. As I said above, the children's own letters and diaries prove they smoked. IMO, the authors are just trying to avoid the modern controversy of showing kids with cigarettes.