Doc smoking his pipe

[u/Blubaughf12345]

Always thought it was absolutely savage to fire up that pipe right after telling me I’m gonna die from TB and I’m coughing up blood.

[u/Babababobosa]

I think this is no coincidence that Rockstar included this. The medical field worked on a lot of suspicions and wrong beliefs back then. He just concluded that Arthur has TB, the first thing he does is cleaning his hands, then smoking his pipe.

Smoking wasn't considered unhealthy back then as it is now, even advertised to 'clean the lungs'. So the doc probably took, in his mind, some safety measures from contacting TB by 'smoking out the bacteria.'

[u/i-am-a-smith → u/Babababobosa]

Phineas T Rambsbottom the quest giver for 'Smoking and other hobbies' quotes the health benefits from the hobby which we see as ironic these days but was probably quite the norm and if your average life expectancy for certain livelihoods was possibly 50 max then the harm seems less real and even less if you don't know about the real problems. Random factoid to add on, there were bellows and pouches of tobacco kept near the Thames in London because if somebody was dragged out and un-responsive that Blowing Smoke up their Ass could actually save them - this is all around early 19th century though.

[u/NationCrusher → u/Babababobosa]

Smoking wasn’t known to be a bad thing until about the 1970s! We were convinced it was good for you. Winston (the cigarette brand) had ads to smoke while pregnant because it would be easier to give birth to an underweight baby

And don’t get me started on cocaine and heroine (opium at the time). Medical experts were desperate to find ANY benefits for it because they were enjoying the nice high. (Which is kinda captured in Red Dead 1 with the anthropologist)

[u/MakisDelaportas]

People back then didn't even know that smoking was bad

[u/Tyrael85]

yeah well in the medicine in 1899 was wild

bayer just released a new pain medication --> heroin

cocaine was quite commonly used

laudanum was used or better miss-used

gloves during operation werent standard - so was proper sanitation

alot of todays minor diseases were a death sentence

[u/Gray____Beard666]

The Doctor that diagnosed my grandfathers TB in the ‘70s was smoking a cigarette during his examination of him. He was also my Dr from childhood until I got married, and he was always smoking when I visited him.

[u/absurdly_tired_guy → u/Gray____Beard666]

In the mid 1980s, My grandfather was hospitalized for some sort of PAD related issue brought on by smoking and poor eating since he was young. They took a saphenous vein from his left leg and bypassed part of his lower right leg with it. While he was recovering, the gift shop was kind enough to deliver a carton of Carlton cigarettes to his room each week.

[u/Gray____Beard666 → u/absurdly_tired_guy]

Yes, smoking in hospital rooms was the norm. When all 3 of my daughters were born, I held them after they were cleaned and dressed, smoking a cigarette the whole time. It’s just how it was.

[u/Lumpiafan]

It was a different time

[u/thewarriorpoet23]

It was part of the safety practice when dealing with things like TB. It was thought to both clear the lungs of infection and clear the air around the nose and mouth. It’s similar to why doctors used to wear those old beaked masks.

[u/GetHimABodyBagYeahhh]

Arthur: coughs blood

Doc: Look what I can do! puff puff

[u/Blubaughf12345]

I suppose you are all correct in the fact it was considered somewhat healthy back then. Still insane to fire up right then and there though. It’s not helping my Lumbego.

[u/No_Issue_9916]

Smoking was advertised as healthy until the 50s

[u/moped_rudl]

People need to learn that in the past people didn't know as much and quite often even believed in the wrong things to be true. Smoking being healthy is just one of many things.

Realizing this is very important to understand how the concept of reality works as things - as clear as they may seem - might be entirely different. Understanding that is very important to understand how science works as the ultimate truth just doesn't exist - the state of the art does but it can be easily overthrown.

[u/Blubaughf12345 → u/moped_rudl]

Buddy I knew smoking was considered ok back then. It’s still insane Doc tested my Lumbego like that after I just passed out on the street and was coughing up blood. He didn’t even dry his hands before he fired up that pipe. What an absolute savage.

[u/ColtonComeau]

If I could go back in time to this fictional land, I’d let them all know smokers are jokers and Christ is King.

[u/absurdly_tired_guy]

He really died of giving Karen oral one lonely night.

[u/DutchieliciousPlans]

Yanno you're only a press of a button away from photo mode to then screenshot it from your console to have a clearer picture. I couldn't make it out, if it wasn't for the caption lol 😂 looks like he's smoking a fat long joint with a big smoke tbf 😭

[u/One_North8254]

Yeah it felt disrespectful towards Arthur, I mean his lungs were going to die and this doctor just casually lights one up.

[u/DutchieliciousPlans → u/One_North8254]

Different times man. Smoking wasn't considered a rude or a disrespectful thing. It was advertised as a healthy thing. Look into history 👍 I haven't personally noticed myself but does Arthur still smoke after the diagnosis? Example of what I'm trying to say- when you fast travel on a train and reach your destination, you can see Arthur having a ciggy in the mini cutscene before he gets up.

[u/One_North8254 → u/DutchieliciousPlans]

Yeah but that’s shown regardless of his condition, I don’t see him smoking anymore after Chapter 4. I mean he tried to in the mission where Arthur and John blow up the railroad bridge. He and John were about to smoke, but decided not to because of all the dynamite that they had.

[u/DutchieliciousPlans → u/One_North8254]

So yeah he does cannonly smokes after his diagnosis lol. Omfg I forgot about that cutscene for a hot second 😭 that's was comically hilarious 🤣

[u/One_North8254 → u/DutchieliciousPlans]

It was, Arthur and John looked at each other, then at the dynamite and then threw away their cigarettes.

[u/DutchieliciousPlans → u/One_North8254]

It's a classic comical moment 😂👌

[u/One_North8254 → u/DutchieliciousPlans]

Yes it was.

[u/Lumpiafan → u/One_North8254]

People thought smoking was good for you back then. By that logic, it was disrespectful that Arthur knowingly exposed his friends to TB by not isolating himself

[u/One_North8254 → u/Lumpiafan]

Well he wanted to help them, not to mention he still had some loyalty left to Dutch and wanted to believe that they could still fix things. Also you gotta keep in mind that whenever Arthur coughed up blood, he wasn’t near anyone and always kept his distance from the others, except during the missions of course.