Helmar's cowboy girl was the pretty pre-World War One mascot that promoted this moderately priced straight Turkish tobacco cigarette. Newspaper ads, the back page of theater programs, wood framed signs, self-framed tin and porcelain signs, and point-of-sale advertising were produced for this campaign. It wasn't necessary for these cheerful ads to explain just what a cigarette was used for. Instead, advertising text described the pleasure that smoking a Helmar would give the user. By 1916 the standard of living had improved in America, and the emergence of a new middle-class meant that many smokers could now afford the luxury of a ten cent cigarette.