The history of tobacco

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Satisfying hunger with a pipe of tobacco
In the mid 16th century, the English explorers John Hawkins and Francis Drake returned home with tales of natives in Florida who could go for days without food, as long as they smoked a pipe of tobacco now and again. More accurately, one should say they ”drank” the smoke from tobacco pipes, since the verb ”smoke” had not yet been coined to describe the activity.
 
But it was not this medicinal effect which got tobacco spreading faster in England than in other countries. It was the enjoyment and pleasure of a pipe of good tobacco.
 
Worth its weight in silver
As the demand for tobacco exploded in Europe, so did the price. As early as the 17th century, 20 grams of tobacco could be exchanged for 20 grams of silver. But gradually, as trade with the colonies across the Atlantic increased, luxury articles such as sugar, coffee, spices and tobacco became everyday commodities, and prices fell accordingly.
 
Social identity
Tobacco was accompanied by a long succession of cultural shifts in Europe. Tobacco changed deeply rooted habits and working routines in everyday life. The break, for example, acquired a new content and timescale, since time was now required to smoke a fill of tobacco before you continued working.
 
Tobacco also brought about revisions to the rules of etiquette. Social status could be displayed by the method by which tobacco was enjoyed. In the early days, the pipe was the ordinary man’s way of enjoying tobacco while the cigar, preferably with a band, became the ultimate symbol of wealth and power.