Aztec women are handed flowers and smoking tubes before eating at a banquet, Florentine Codex,
16th century. Smoking in the Americas probably had its origins in the incense-burning ceremonies of shamans but was later adopted for pleasure or as a social tool. The Maya employed it in classical times (at least from the 10th century) and the Aztecs included it in their mythology. The Aztec goddess Cihuacoahuatl had a body consisting of tobacco and the priests that performed human sacrifices wore tobacco gourds as symbols of divinity. Even today certain Tzeltal Maya sacrifice 13 calabashes of tobacco at New Year.The smoking of tobacco and various other hallucinogenic drugs was used to achieve trances and to come into contact with the spirit world. Reports from the first European explorers and conquistadors to reach the Americas tell of rituals where native priests smoked themselves into such high degrees of intoxication that it is unlikely that the rituals were limited to just tobacco. No concrete evidence of exactly what was smoked exists, but the most probable theory is that the tobacco used was much stronger, consumed in extreme amounts or that it was mixed with any number of other, unknown, psychoactive drugs.A ceremonial pipe of the Mississippian Culture.
In North America the most common form of smoking was in pipes, which today are best known as the peace pipes offered both to other tribes and later European settlers as a gestu
re of goodwill and diplomacy. In the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and South America, early forms of cigarettes, smoking reeds or cigars were the most common smoking tools. Only in modern times has the use of pipes become fairly widespread. Smoking is depicted in engravings and on various types of pottery as early as the 9th century, but it is not known whether it was limited to just the upper class and priests. By the time Europeans arrived in the Americas in the late 15th century there was widespread use of tobacco smoking as a recreational activity. At the banquets of Aztec nobles, the meal would commence by passing out fragrant flowers and smoking tubes for the dinner guests. At the end of the feast, which would last all night, the remaining flowers, smoking tubes and food would be given as a kind of alms to old and poor people who had been invited to witness the social occasion, or it would be rewarded to the servants.Chronological axis
1492:- Columbus Discovers Tobacco; "Certain Dried Leaves" Are Received as Gifts, and Thrown Away
1518:- Juan De Grijalva lands in Yucatan, observes cigarette smoking by natives
1527:- Tobacco recorded as addictive by Bartolomé de Las Casas.
1531:- Santo Domingo: European cultivation of tobacco begins.
1556-1558:- Tobacco introduced to France, Spain and Portugal.
1564-1565:- Tobacco introduced to England
1600:- Sir Walter Raleigh persuades Queen Elizabeth to try smoking.
1614:- First sale of native Virginia tobacco in England; Virginia colony enters world tobacco market, under English protection
1683:- Massachusetts passes the nation's first no-smoking law. It forbids the smoking of tobacco outdoors, because of the fire danger. Soon after, Philadelphia lawmakers approve a ban on "smoking seegars on the street." Fines are used to buy fire-fighting equipment.
1762:- General Israel Putnam introduces cigar-smoking to the US.
1770:- Demuth Tobacco shop, the oldest tobacco shop in the nation is established by Christopher Demuth at 114 E. King St., Lancaster, PA
1794:- The U.S. Congress passes the first federal excise tax on tobacco products.
1805-1807:- CERIOLI isolates nicotine, the "essential oil" or "essence of tobacco"
1809:- Louis Nicolas Vanquelin isolates nicotine from tobacco smoke.
1827:- First friction match invented. Chemist John Walker calls his invention "Congreves," after the rocket maker. Later they became known as "lucifers", then "matches
1830:- First organized anti-tobacco movement in US begins as adjunct to the temperance movement
1832:- The cigarette is invented by an Egyptian artilleryman during the siege of Acre. the Egyptian's cannon crew had improved their rate of fire by rolling the gunpowder in paper tubes. For this, he and his crew were rewarded with a pound of tobacco.Their only pipe was broken, so they took to rolling the pipe tobacco in the paper tubes.
1852:- The first matches are introduced, making smoking more convenient
1860:- Manufactured cigarettes first appear in the United States. A popular early brand, Bull Durham, commanded 90% of the market.
1861-1865:- Tobacco is given with rations to Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War, and many Northerners are introduced to tobacco this way. During Sherman's march, Union soldiers raided warehouses in search of the mild, sweet "bright" tobacco of the South. Bright tobacco becomes the rage in the North and eventually replaces the heavier Turkish tobacco in cigarettes.
1864:- First American cigarette factory opens and produces almost 20 million cigarettes annually.
1875:- Allen & Ginter cigarette brands, Richmond Straight Cut No. 1 and Pet, begin using picture cards to stiffen the pack and protect the cigarettes. The cards, with photos of actresses, baseball players, Indian Chiefs, and boxers are enormously successful and represent the first modern promotion scheme for a manufactured product.
1880:- Mssrs. Richard Benson and William Hedges open a tobacconist shop near Philip Morris in London.
1886:- JB Duke targets women with "Cameo" brand.
1898:- Tennessee Supreme Court upholds a total ban on cigarettes, ruling they are "not legitimate articles of commerce, being wholly noxious and deleterious to health. Their use is always harmful."
1900:- Washington, Iowa, Tennessee and North Dakota outlaw the sale of cigarettes.
1901:- Strong anti-cigarette activity now exists in 43 of the 45 states.
1901:- 3.5 billion cigarettes and 6 billion cigars are sold. Four in five American men smoke at least one cigar a day.
1902:- Tiny Philip Morris sets up a corporation in New York to sell its British brands, including Philip Morris, Blues, Cambridge, Derby, and a cigarette named after Marlborough Street, where its London factory is located. Marlboro is one of the earliest woman's cigarette, featuring a red tip to hide lipstick marks. It does not catch on with the public.
1909:- Baseball great Honus Wagner orders American Tobacco Company take his picture off their Sweet Caporal cigarette packs, fearing it will lead children to smoke. The resulting shortage makes the Honus Wagner card the most valuable baseball card of all time, currently worth close to $500,000.
1910:- Most popular brands: Pall Mall, Sweet Caporals, Piedmont, Helmar and Fatima.
1913:- RJ Reynolds introduces Camel, considered by historians as the first 'modern' cigarette.
1917:- There are now 3 national brands of cigarettes on the US market: Lucky Strike, Camel and Chesterfield.
1921:- RJ Reynolds spends $8 million in advertising, mostly on Camel. Inaugurates the highly successful "I'd Walk a Mile for a Camel" slogan.
1923:- Camel captures 45% of the US market.
1924:- Philip Morris re-introduces Marlboro with the slogan "Mild as May," targeting "decent, respectable" women. "Has smoking any more to do with a woman's morals than has the color of her hair?" the advertisement reads. "Marlboros now ride in so many limousines, attend so many bridge parties, and repose in so many handbags."
1927:- A sensation is created when George Washington Hill blatantly aims Lucky Strike advertising campaign at women, urging them to "reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet." Smoking initiation rates among adolescent females triple between 1925-1935, and Lucky Strike captures 38% of the American market.
1930:- Most popular brands: Lucky Strike, Camel, Chesterfield, Old Gold and Raleigh.
1933:- The Journal of the American Medical Association publishes its first cigarette ad, a practice that would continue for 20 years.
1936:- Brown and Williamson introduces Viceroy, the first national brand to feature a filter of cellulose acetate. Advertising increases the use of physicians to counter the claims that cigarettes are a major health problem.
1940:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Raleigh and Old Gold.
1940:- Adult Americans smoke 2,558 cigarettes per capita a year, nearly twice the consumption of 1930
1942:- Brown and Williamson claims that Kools keep the head clear and give extra protection against colds. Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, and Camels all promote the health benefits of their cigarettes, including the prominent display of physicians. This practice continues into the 1950s, when it is abandoned in favor of silence on health issues.
1950:- Most popular brands: Camel, Lucky Strike, Chesterfield, Commander and Old Gold.
1952:- Kent introduces the 'Micronite' filter, which Lorillard claims "offers the greatest health protection in cigarette history." It turns out to be made of asbestos. Kent discontinues use of the Micronite filter four years later.
1954:- RJ Reynolds:- introduces:- Winston:- filter cigarettes, but promotes the taste benefit, not health. Winston dominates the US market for the next 15 years.
1954:- Marlboro advertising taken over by the Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett. "Delivers the Goods on Flavor" ran the new slogan in newspaper ads. Design of the campaign, which features 'Marlboro Men,' is credited to John Landry of Philip Morris. Prior to initiating this campaign, Marlboro had <1%>$400 million per year.
1988:- After a 15 year decline, the incidence of teenage smoking increases.
1989:- During the 93-minute broadcast of the Marlboro Grand Prix, the Marlboro name appeared on the television screen 5,933 times for a total of 46 minutes. Sponsorship of televised sporting events becomes the principal means by which cigarette companies subvert the 1971 ban on TV advertising.
1990:- Most popular brands: Marlboro, Winston, Salem, Kool and Newport. However, Marlboro actually outsells Winston by a 3 to 1 margin.
1990:- The US realizes a $4.2 billion trade surplus from tobacco products. Despite 2.5 million deaths worldwide due to smoking, Vice President Quayle remarks, "We ought to think about opening up markets."
1992:- Dying of lung cancer, 'Marlboro Man' Wayne McLaren appears at Philip Morris' annual shareholders meeting in Richmond, Virginia, and asks the company to voluntarily limit its advertising. Chairman Michael Miles responds, "We're certainly sorry to hear about your medical problem. Without knowing your medical history, I don't think I can comment any further." The Marlboro Man died of lung cancer three months later.
1993:- Cigarette promotional expenditures reach $6.03 billion, an increase of 15.4 percent over 1992.
1995:- Marlboro cowboy, David McLean, dies of lung cancer at 73.
1997:- In response to pressure by the Federal Trade Commission, RJ Reynolds abandons the 'Joe Camel' ad campaign.
1998:- Camel, Winston and Kool introduce youth-oriented ads, many of which mock the anti-smoking movement.
1999:- About 10 million Americans smoke cigars.
1999:- Britain's royal family orders the removal of its seal of approval from Gallaher's Benson and Hedges cigarettes
1999:- Philip Morris acknowledges scientific consensus on smoking. "There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other serious diseases in smokers".
2002:- CDC estimates smoking health and productivity costs reach $150 billion a year, according to a new study published in this week's WMMR. CDC estimated the total cost of smoking at $3,391 a year for every smoker, and even itemized the per-pack health/productivity costs at $7.18/pack. Further, it estimated the smoking-related medical costs at $3.45 per pack, and job productivity lost because of premature death from smoking at $3.73 per pack.
The tobacco revolution
An engraving from Jakob Balde's Die truckene Trunkenheit ("The Dry Drunkenness") from 1658.After the European exploration and subsequent colonization of the Americas in the 16th century, the smoking, cultivation and trading of tobacco quickly spread to all corners of the globe. By the mid-17th century every major civilization had been introduced to tobacco smoking and in many cases had already assimilated it into the native culture, despite the attempts of many rulers to stamp the practice out with harsh penalties or fines. Tobacco, both product and plant, followed the major trade routes to major ports and markets, and then on into the hinterlands. The English language term 'smoking' was coined in the late 17th century; until then it was referred to as 'drinking smoke'.Soon after its introduction to the Old World, tobacco came under frequent criticism from state and religious leaders. Murad IV, sultan of the Ottoman Empire 1623-40 was among the first to attempt a smoking ban by claiming it was a threat to public moral and health. The Chinese emperor Chongzhen issued an edict banning smoking two years before his death and the overthrow of the Ming dynasty. Later, the Manchu of the Qing dynasty, who were originally a tribe of nomadic horse warriors, would proclaim smoking "a more heinous crime than that even of neglecting archery". In Edo period Japan, some of the earliest tobacco plantations were scorned by the shogunate as being a threat to the military economy by letting valuable farmland go to waste for the use of a recreational drug instead of being used to plant food crops. Religious leaders have often been prominent among those who considered smoking immoral or outright blasphemous. In 1634 the Patriarch of Moscow forbade the sale of tobacco and sentenced men and women who flaunted the ban to have their nostrils slit and their backs whipped until skin came off their backs. The Western church leader Urban VII likewise condemned smoking in a papal bull of 1642. Despite many concerted efforts, restrictions and bans were almost universally ignored. When James I of England, a staunch anti-smoker and the author of a A Counterblaste to Tobacco, tried to curb the new trend by enforcing a whopping 4000% tax increase on tobacco in 1604, it proved a failure, as London had some 7,000 tobacco sellers by the early 17th century. Later, scrupulous rulers would realise the futility of smoking bans and instead turned tobacco trade and cultivation into lucrative government monopolies.
