Flying and Smoking
13
mildness is also a claim about their suitability for female smokers. Concello
claims that these are the mildest cigarettes she has smoked, alongside an image
of her meeting a male and a female fan who both presumably smoke Camel. A
final illustration of a glamorous “Mrs Concello,” relaxing after athletic action
with a cigarette, conveys that the male and the female fan are simply thrilled to
meet this famous woman (ibid). The advertisements showing a physically strong
but attractive woman impressing spectators seem intended to appeal to both
male and female smokers. Smoking a Camel cigarette implicitly provides a
substitute for meeting the aerialist in person.
In 1939 Concello shares the Camel advertisement with wild animal trainer
Terrell Jacobs, and the depiction of a male journalist in the first image allows
the commentary to come from the two performers responding to his question.
Concello is depicted undertaking the triple somersault in the 1939 and 1942
advertisements, and as the first woman to do so. Although, importantly, she did
sustain the execution of the triple from 1937 over several years—a feat in
itself—circus history now acknowledges that Lena Jordan pioneered the triple
somersault in 1897 as its first performer (Couderc 1965; Culhane 1990; Gossard
1994; Tait 2005; 57-9, 100-3). The fictionalised Concello in the advertisement
says: “. . . the stunt requires great increased speed, I had to depend almost
entirely on automatic timing.” “But as I whirled out into
space . .. once . . . twice. For a split-second I practically lost consciousness [...]
three times .. . a nd. . . I made it! My timing was perfect and another ‘first
performance’ left me thrilled and safe.” (Joys 1983: 180 [bold in original]). The
1939 advertisement therefore contains the sensationalist but disputed claim that
a performer loses consciousness undertaking the triple, which the legendary
master of the triple, Alfredo Codona, promoted (1930: 36; Culhane 1990: 86).
As someone able to excel at physical feats that are anxiety-provoking to even
watch, Concello is made to claim that cigarettes soothe tension and alleviate
nervousness. This is the central idea promoted through the use of circus daring
in these advertisements. The 1942 advertisement claiming 28 percent less
nicotine features only Concello doing her “breath-taking triple,” with fellow
performers commenting on it and a soldier spectator enjoying a cigarette with
her afterwards.
These advertisement depictions of women excelling at difficult athletic
action may be indicative of social norms for women during the 1940s, but
nonetheless there were contradictory social values around women smoking or
undertaking trapeze performance. The three Camel advertisements are presented
in a newspaper comic strip format. These contain two or three rows with two or
three illustrations in each row, and a head and shoulders photograph at the end
shows that smiling aerialist smoking a cigarette with enjoyment. Tinkler
explains, “smoking was presented as a sign of a woman’s right to pleasure”
(2006: 78), but it was criticised for allowing women to intrude on male space
(ibid: 80). By implication, the aerialist is relaxing after the physical exertion,
which invariably also carries the innuendo of a post-coital act. Although aerial