Please recommend to me material on the history of smoking

In My Humble Opinion
1

Yet another Crazy Shower Idea…

I got to thinking this morning about smoking. I know that tobacco originated in the Americas, and presumably smoking did as well. I also know about smoking in the twentieth century, and such acts as Edward Bernays designing a media campaign to encourage women to smoke in the 1920s. I also have vague impressions of Virginia prospering by growing tobacco in the 1700s, and some English king ranting against it around that time.

What I don’t know is what might be called the prehistory of smoking. Did Old Worlders smoke other things that tobacco previous to arriving in the New World, or was the habit acquired there? When did people start smoking tobacco? What about marijuana?

For that matter, how and why did people choose smoking, as opposed to, say, teas or baking? When did they start putting lit things in their mouths, as opposed to something like incense in a tray? (Could you smoke tobacco as an incense?) When did companies get involved in the production of tobacco? Are cigarettes newer than cigars, as the name suggests?

So many questions. Any good reference material out there?

2

You might start with Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization, by Iain Gately. Lots of material on pre-Columbian tobacco use, and smoking versus chewing or snorting. As the title implies, however, it’s tobacco-centric with not much on other herbs.

3

Oooh! Interesting! I’ll have to see whether I can get that one through the library.

4

I’ve got nothing to add, but if you want a laugh Google Bob Newhart’s Introducing Tobacco To Civilization on Youtube.