Anyone who has ever smoked or still does, knows that a big part of the habit is the ritual – to mention a few, opening the packs, tamping the cigarette down, the lighting with match or lighter, how you inhale, blowing smoke rings, flicking the ashes, having coffee at the same time, and – of course – how you hold that death stick.

This  image from a 1959 issue of Caper magazine shows Dr. William Neutra’s analysis of personality, based on how people hold their death sticks. Neutra was a Los Angeles psychoanalyst, which of course explains a lot.

Click the image for a full-size version.

You wanna buy some death sticks?

Back in the 50’s, nonsense of this kind bought a lot of Cadillacs for a lot of psychiatrists, but people were eating it up, so it got published.

The Old Wolf has spoken.