Of the 348 tobacco factories listed in the 1860 Census for Virginia and North Carolina, only seven manufactured smoking products ( Heimann, 1960). During the 1860s, tobacco was chewed in the form of either a plug or a twist. In spite of two centuries of pipe smoking and snuff use, by the mid-1850s, North Americans rejected the European practices in general, and British practices in particular, that entailed snuff boxes and formality in addition, tobacco chewing was more convenient for Americans who trekked westward in their wagons. Chewing tobacco became popular in the USA only during the first half of the nineteenth century ( Gottsegen, 1940). Tobacco chewing was recommended for cleaning the teeth of women and children ( Brooks, 1952). In Europe, tobacco was regarded as a prophylactic during the plague and, for those who did not like smoking, chewing was an alternative. When smoking was forbidden on British naval vessels because of the fire hazard, sailors turned to chewing tobacco and snuff. Portugese and Spanish sailing crews who were addicted to tobacco carried seeds, and planted them at ports.
By the early seventeenth century, tobacco had become one of the major exports of the American colonies ( Christen et al., 1982) and its use in various forms had spread throughout Europe, Turkey, Russia, Arabia, China, Alaska and the world ( Axton, 1975). He grew tobacco and promoted the product in Europe for its magic ‘cure-all’ properties. In 1559, Jean Nicot, in whose honour the genus Nicotiana was named, was ambassador to Sebastian, King of Portugal. Tobacco was soon grown in Europe as both a decorative and medicinal plant. Several American tribes mixed either lime or finely-powdered and burned, fresh-or saltwater molluscs with their chewing tobacco ( Curtis, 1935).Īmong native Americans, chewing tobacco was thought to have several medicinal uses, such as to alleviate toothache, to disinfect cuts by spitting the tobacco juice and saliva mixture onto the wound, and to relieve the effects of snake, spider and insect bites ( Axton, 1975).īy 1531, the Spaniards were growing tobacco commercially in the West Indies and maintained a monopoly over the European markets until 1575, at which time the Portuguese began to grow large quantities of the commodity.
Tobacco chewing seems to have been a common practice among the American Indians, especially when long distances had to be covered it has been reported that tobacco was the support against hunger, thirst and fatigue when an American Indian would trek for 2 or 3 days with no other support. Use of plug tobacco was reported in Santo Domingo during the sixteenth century. Columbus, in 1571, observed men in Veragua, later known as Costa Rica, who put a dry herb in their mouths and chewed it ( Heimann, 1960). The practice of tobacco chewing was widespread in parts of Central and South America in the late 1500s ( Voges, 1984). In 1499, Amerigo Vespucci found Indians on Margarita Island, off the coast of Venezuela, who chewed a green herb known as tobacco in order to quench their thirst, since it produced an increase in salivation he also reported that the Indians chewed tobacco leaves to whiten their teeth and to alleviate hunger ( Heimann, 1960 Stewart, 1967 Voges, 1984).