INTRODUCTION
Back in the 1950’s, smoking was fashionable. In fact, it was considered commonplace. Back then, you could smoke everywhere – in restaurants, airplanes, grocery stores, even hospitals. A smoker never got a dirty look for lighting up in public. It was the people who DIDN’T smoke who were in the minority.
My, how times have changed!
Smoking is nothing new to civilization. In fact, scientists can determine that as far back as 1000 B.C. People start using the leaves of the tobacco plant for smoking and chewing.
How and why tobacco was first used in the Americas no one knows. The first users are thought to have been the Mayan civilizations of Central America. Its use was gradually adopted throughout the nations of Central and most of North and South America.
From that moment, tobacco production began catching on and tobacco products became readily available throughout the young United States of America. In 1832, the first paper cigarette was introduced.
It is widely believed that the first paper rolled cigarettes were made by Egyptian soldiers fighting the Turkish-Egyptian war. Other historians suggest that Russians and Turks learned about cigarettes from the French, who in turn may have learned about smoking from the Spanish. It is thought that paupers in Seville were making a form of cigarette, known as a ‘papalette’, from the butts of discarded cigars and papers as early as the 17th century.
