That's not uncommon for a new resistor. Was the engine running at the time? If the points are closed with the switch on/engine off, the ignition circuit is flowing current all the time, and the resistor will get hot enough to burn someone if it's touched. That's why it's in a ceramic holder. Any dust or oil residue will burn off and smoke. If you need to have the switch on for an extended period of time without the engine running for some reason, disconnect the wire at the side of the distributor to protect the points and keep the resistor from getting hot. Newer solid-state ignition systems have built-in protection circuits to try to make them idiot-proof. When they built stovebolts and other oldtime vehicles, they assumed owners and mechanics had some common sense.
Jerry

"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln
Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt!
There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway
Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!