WASHINGTON, Jan. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

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MONDAY, JANUARY 21: NYC BANS WOMEN SMOKING

Profile America — Monday, January 21st.  You may think the debate about smoking is fairly recent, but the more things change, the more they resemble 1908.  On this date that year, the New York City council passed an ordinance that made it illegal for women to smoke in public.  The ordinance was the result of a campaign by the National Anti-Cigarette League.  At the time, a number of cities had banned smoking, along with the states of Arkansas, Iowa, Idaho, and Tennessee.  All of these laws were revoked by 1917, since they were not only difficult to enforce but added to the allure of smoking.  That allure has diminished in the succeeding decades, but between last July and August, the value of U.S. tobacco product shipments jumped almost 12 percent, to $3.7 billion.  Profile America is in its 16th year as a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau, Manufacturers' Shipments, Inventories, & Orders, Table 1

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau