Cigarettes

From a time that advertising for cigarettes was omnipresent (like it still is in Germany). 

Smoking and berets have a bit of a relationship; the stereotypical Frenchman wearing a beret, glass of Bordeaux in the hand (if not a baguette) and a cigarette hanging from the lip. 

So typical it was that there are even many beret labels depicting (and reinforcing) this picture and often berets (embroidered with Big Tobacco's logo's) were handed out at festivals. motor races and similar events. 

Different times...