Thursday, September 24, 2015

Sisi Smokes!

 

September 24, 1890

Empress Elisabeth of Austria smokes "from thirty to forty Turkish and Russian cigarettes a day," according to a Los Angeles Times dispatch.  It has been her "inveterate custom to puff away after dinner" with a strong Italian cigar, one of those with a straw running through it."  It is brought to her with "her cup of Turkish coffee  every evening on a gold salver."

Elisabeth, the consort of Emperor Franz Josef, says that "smoking soothes her nerves," and whenever she feels 'blue.' she lights up a cigar or a cigarette, which allows her to "see things in a happier light."


She will "almost mechanically" light a cigarette, one after another, as she sits in her "great writing room" at Godollo, which is fitted with "carved oak panels and Gobelin tapestries."    Smoking has certainly affected the Empress' "slender, white hand," which some have noticed "a faint yellow stain on the first and second fingers of the left hand," caused by the smoking.

1 comment:

Cheryl Ciucevich said...

Knowing Sisi, she probably also thought smoking kept her slim.