This photo was the inspiration for the cover of "Heaven and Hell". Actually the one who was inspired by that image was artist Lynn Curlee who titled her painting "Smoking Angels". Faced with Warner's need for an image to illustrate the upcoming Black Sabbath album, Curlee heeded to the label's call and his proposal was approved, leaving his work immortalized on one of the most impressive albums ever.
As far as photography is concerned it was taken in 1928. It's a group of women dressed as angels who found themselves smoking during a brief break at a college Christmas event.
