TABS, FAGS AND THE BOY LABOR PROBLEM IN LATE-VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN BRITAIN

In 1908 the Liberal government introduced the Children's Act, part thr ee of which dealt directly with the perceived problem of juvenile smok ing. This article examines the causes of this legislation. The first s ection traces the increase in smoking amongst urban male youth stressi ng the need to look at the whole culture of the city child in order to understand fully the reasons for such a growth. The second part exami nes the reactions against the habit and how these were able to transla te themselves into national law. It will be argued that specific healt h scares popularised by the anti-tobacco movement played a minor role here. Far more important were the notions of adolescence held by middl e-class social commentators and reformers which were sharply at odds w ith what was practised in urban working-class districts, and that the widespread fears over national efficiency and physical deterioration p rovided a political atmosphere willing to legislate against what had o nly a few years before been seen as a minor social issue.