Nevertheless, smokers were a minority—about ten percent of the student population, according to D. Joseph Menn ’87, a former Crimson editor. Many were of what students and the faculty at the time call “high-class.”

Jerome H. Doolittle, a professor from 1985 to 1990, left an ashtray out for students to use when they had conferences with him. Only one student ever took advantage of the offering.

And change gradually took hold.

When Litvak first came to Adams—unanimously remembered as having the highest proportion of smokers—as a sophomore, there were only four non-smoking tables in the dining hall. By the time he graduated, those four tables were the only ones for smokers. As athletes, Litvak and his friends did not smoke, fostering a culture he felt might have contributed to the reduction in smoking tables.

Dunster House was the last to forbid smoking entirely in the dining halls although the ban did not go into effect until 1992.

Despite the changing rules about smoking areas, those who continued the habit could still be seen “clustering outside entrances of buildings,” according to Boodram.

UP IN SMOKE

Many anti-smoking advocates thought the Cambridge ban should be implemented at the state level as well. But while the negative health effects of smoking were widely acknowledged, the most contentious debate, says Wolf, centered on smoking in local restaurants and bars.

“Communities feel competitive in that regard,” she said, explaining that without a consistent ban, eateries worried they could lose business depending upon their smoking allowances.

“You got to be careful to balance,” said current City Manager Robert W. Healy. “Clearly one would always err to the side of public health, but you do have to watch the impact on business development.”

Tommy’s House of Pizza—a popular hangout spot for students—featured heavy smoking that disappeared after the ban, according to Menn.

Restaurants were not the only ones who had to adjust to the new rules. Leavitt & Peirce, a tobacco shop on Mass. Ave, had an upstairs smoking parlor before early 1987. But under the ordinance, businesses that wanted to be smoker-friendly could not allow individuals under the age of eighteen into the store.

For Leavitt & Peirce, which sells everything from antique memorabilia to chess sets, children’s toys, and sports equipment, this was impossible.

“We have to be all ages here,” said Paul J. MacDonald, owner of the store. “It wasn’t a hard decision,” he added of eliminating the smoking parlor.

MacDonald said the biggest effect of the ban was on his cigar business. Customers were less likely to come in and buy a cigar during the winter, he explained, because they could not stay and smoke in the warmth of the store’s interior.