Tobacco jar

“ The growing popularity of the cigar made smoking less unfashionable than it had been among the upper classes of society; but among humbler folk pipe-smoking had never "gone out." Every public-house did its regular trade in clays, known as churchwardens and Broseleys, and by other names either of familiarity or descriptive of the place of manufacture; and on the mantelpiece or table of inn or ale-house stood the tobacco-box. Miss Jekyll, in her delightful book on "Old West Surrey," figures an example of these old public-house tobacco-boxes which is made of lead. ”

“ The smoker lays his head upon a pillow, has a lamp by his side, and with a kind of needle he lifts a small portion of the opium to the candle; and having ignited it, he puts it into the small aperture of the bowl of the pipe. The candle is applied to the bowl during the process of inhaling, and the smoke is drawn into the lungs in the same manner as an Indian or Chinese swallows tobacco. A whiff or two is all that can be drawn from a single pipe, and, therefore, those who are accustomed to the use of the drug have frequently to renew the dose. ”

“ Around the pipe as an evolutionary centre, a whole intricate and elegant little world of smoking furniture and smoking etiquette has come into existence. There is the tabako-ire, or tobacco-pouch,—as far removed in its dainty beauty from the cheap gutta-percha atrocities of Europe as a butterfly is from a blunderbuss,—the netsuke, or carved button, used to attach the pouch to the owner's girdle, and above all the tabakobon, or smoking-box, which contains a brazier and other implements. ”

“ He says—"No gentleman in those days was seen smoking even a 'weed' in the streets. Cigarettes were practically unheard of in England, and outside one's private smoking-room pipes were tabooed. Men in Society slunk into their smoking-rooms, or, when there was no smoking-room, into the kitchen or servants' hall, after the domestics had retired. A smoking-jacket was worn in the place of their ordinary evening coat, and their well-oiled, massive head of hair was protected by a gorgeously decorated smoking-cap. Thus the odour of tobacco was not brought into the drawing-room." ”

“ It is well known that very much stronger tobacco can be smoked as a cigar than as a pipe. As a matter of fact a cigar which could be enjoyed as a cigar, would cause sickness if cut up into small pieces and smoked in a pipe. ”

“ Holders made from the last wood are the best, because they are generally longer than the others, whereby the smoke may become cooled, and because, being very cheap, they can be frequently renewed. Other inconveniences, involving questions of cleanliness, are avoided by the use of the cigar-holder. Too many hands touch the tobacco while it is being manufactured into a cigar for one to be able to say it has not been soiled, and cases of its having been the vehicle for conveying contagious disease are not unknown. ”

“ Thus, one will place his pipe-bowl in a flame of gas, and pull away at the stem till his tobacco is on fire; another will thrust the bowl into the midst of a coal fire, and when he sees a glow in the bowl withdraw it, and contentedly puff away; another stops an obliging policeman or railway guard, and ignites his tobacco by hard pulling at the flame of an oil-lamp; another will stick the end of a choice cigar into the bowl of a pipe filled with coarsest Shag, thus ruining the flavor of his 'prime Havana' forever ”

“ Another writer of this time speaks of one pipe of tobacco sufficing "three or four men at once."
The rich young gallant carried about with him his tobacco apparatus (often of gold or silver) in the form of tobacco-box, tobacco-tongs—wherewith to lift a [27] live coal to light his pipe, ladle "for the cold snuffe into the nosthrill," and priming-iron. Sometimes the tobacco-box was of ivory; and occasionally a gallant would have looking-glass set in his box, so that when he took it out to obtain tobacco, he could at the same time have a view of his own delectable person. ”

“ The cigar dealt the snuff-box its death-blow and the cigarette was chief mourner at its funeral.
As in other periods, men of letters and artists ignored the social prejudices and conventions about tobacco, and laughed at the artificial distinctions drawn between cigars and pipes. It is said that the late Sir John Millais smoked a clay pipe in his carriage when he was part of the first Jubilee procession of Queen Victoria—a performance, if it took place, which would certainly have horrified her tobacco-hating Majesty. ”

“ The natural properties of certain classes of tobacco render them especially suited for cigar-making; others are best fitted for smoking in pipes, and there are numerous qualities which are valuable for snuff-making. National tastes and habits again frequently determine the destination of the [185] weed. Thus, heavy, full-flavoured cigars and strong pipe-tobacco are in favour in North America, while in Europe, lighter, and more brisk-burning are sought after. ”

“ A biscuit or two was handed to the carriers, and—what delighted them still more—a few small fragments of tobacco. The New Guinea fashion of smoking is peculiar. The pipe is a bamboo tube about two feet long and two inches in diameter, with one end closed. Near this end, a small hole like the mouth-hole of a flute is made, and in it a piece of leaf, twisted into a pointed cup or ‘horn’ containing a little tobacco, is inserted. Applying a light to the tobacco, the smoker sucks vigorously at the open end of the tube ”

“ This tobacco is said to consist largely or wholly of the flowering tops and even the seed bearing capsules. In the manufacture of cigars and better grades of smoking and chewing tobacco the mid-ribs are removed, but are not thrown away, but generally added to the cheaper grades of smoking tobacco and snuff tobacco. Crude as well as prepared tobacco is subject to deterioration after curing. For example, Havana cigars pronounced of excellent quality on leaving the factory will deteriorate in flavor and aroma after having been stored for some time. ”

“ The members are constantly rolling cigarettes with deft fingers, and the people in the galleries do the same, so that a cloud of gray vapor always hangs over the body, and in the dark corners of the chamber one can see the glow of burning tobacco like the flash of fire-flies. But cigars are never used, nor pipes, and no one chews tobacco. ”

“ During the trip from Nashville to Atlanta I went into the smoking-compartment of the car to smoke a cigar. I was traveling in a Pullman, not because of an abundance of funds, but because through my experience with my millionaire a certain amount of comfort and luxury had become a necessity to me whenever it was obtainable. When I entered the car, I found only a couple of men there; but in a half-hour there were half a dozen or more. From the general conversation I learned that a fat Jewish-looking man was a cigar manufacturer, and was experimenting in growing Havana tobacco in Florida ”

“ Many of the 5-cent cigars sold so extensively, contain a large proportion of Havana tobacco, and make a fairly fragrant and pleasant smoke. It is said that there are upwards of 100,000 open and proprietary brands of cigars on the market.
Cigarettes.—The sale of these little paper tubes filled with tobacco, has grown enormously within a few years and is still increasing. It is whispered that the ladies even, sometimes seek to find in them a whiff of the solace and comfort their brothers and 53husbands find in the pipe or cigar. There are many favorite brands on the market. ”

“ In a quicker and better method, as practiced in Cuba and the cigar districts of the United States, the tobacco is piled under suitable conditions of moisture and the process of fermenting is hastened by the heat developed. The tobacco is repiled when the temperature rises to a certain point, and so continued until the proper flavor and aroma are developed. Tobacco for cigarettes is cured by heating it for a short time in large ovens. The product is of light color and a small nicotine content and without the agreeable aroma of cigar tobacco. ”

“ Smoking is to some extent gradually replacing betel-nut chewing, especially with the children, who now take to the weed when they are about five or six years old. The native tobacco is very strong, and when smoked as a cigarette wrapped in dried banana-leaf, it is decidedly unpalatable to the European. Light cigarette tobaccos of foreign manufacture are now much in vogue. Those who can afford it, roll up the tobacco in lotus leaf. ”

“ Cigarettes are still more injurious than cigars because of the smoke from their paper coverings; also, because from the way they are made, more of the tobacco poison goes into the lungs. The cheap cigarette which boys use is made from cast-away cigar stumps and other filthy things. ”

“ The cigar-smoker absorbs more poison than the cigarette-smoker, and the latter in turn than those who smoke pipes, while the smoker who takes the precaution of using a narghilie, or any other apparatus which conducts the smoke through water, reduces the deleterious effects of tobacco to a minimum. ”

“ On the condition of these albuminoids, and on the presence of other substances, as nitric acid, alkalies, &c., in the tobacco, mostly depend the burning qualities of the leaf, and the flavour of a cigar. The Eastern habit in smoking, from Malaysia, Japan and China, through India, Persia and Turkey, even to Hungary, is to inhale the smoke into the lungs, and natives of these countries maintain that a tobacco should be of full flavour without burning the throat or catching the breath. Western nations do not admit the smoke further than the mouth, and therefore require a strong, rank flavour. ”

“ The West Greenlanders prepare their chewing tobacco in a way which to us seems somewhat surprising. A deep Danish porcelain pipe is half-filled with smoking-tobacco, which is then thoroughly drenched with water, after which the pipe is filled to the brim with dry tobacco ”

“ Even in the poorest man’s house the tobacco tray, with its fire-pot and ash-pot, is an essential part of the [131] furniture. Visit the humblest abode and there will be placed before you all the tiny equipment for a smoke; but their weed is almost tasteless; certainly, it can do nobody any harm. Formerly the tiny cup of tea was always the prelude to social gossip; now, however, for some reason or other the pipe takes precedence of the cup. ”

“ The bowls of this class of ancient clay pipes are not of the miniature proportions which induce a comparison between those of Canada and the early examples found in Britain; neither do the stone pipe-heads of the mound-builders suggest by the size of the bowl either the self-denying economy of the ancient smoker, or his practice of the modern Indian mode of exhaling the fumes of the tobacco, by which so small a quantity suffices to produce the full narcotic effects of the favorite weed. ”

“ If a boy will smoke let him use a good long-cut tobacco which has little or no Perique tobacco in it, in a "Remington," "Edison," or similar wooden pipe. These are pipes with stems of large calibre, and in the stem there is a roll of absorbent paper or pith which keeps the pipe clean. Cigars, no matter how costly they may be, are too strong for a boy and for most men. A poor cigar irritates the throat aside from the regular effect of the tobacco, especially if there is much nitre in the wrapper. Meerschaum pipes are dirty and too strong. ”

“ When within about one mile of town, we noticed several large sheds filled with tobacco, which is grown here in large quantities. The inhabitants, however, do not understand manufacturing it otherwise than into cigars. All smoke here—men, women, and children; and we must confess that it detracts somewhat from the beauty of a young lady to see her promenading the street with a huge cigar in her mouth, puffing away most lustily ”

“ When, as is often the case, the wrapper is very narrow and the tobacco is inclined to escape, the man smokes his cigarette in a peculiar manner; he holds the unlighted end in his fingers and with his mouth draws out the smoke from between the edges of the wrapper in the middle of the cigarette, this he continues to do until the cigarette is about half consumed when he puts the end in his mouth in the ordinary way. ”

“ The manufactured American cigarette seems to be especially deadly in its effect. It is said to contain five and one-half per cent. of nicotine, or more than twice as much as the Cuban-made cigarette contains, and more than six times as much as is contained in the Turkish cigarette.
I am not going to quarrel with the use of tobacco in general by mature men. He who has come to man's estate is free to decide for himself whether he shall force a poison on his revolting stomach ”

“ The practice was hedged about and obstructed by a host of restrictions and conventions, but as the nineteenth century advanced the triumphant progress of tobacco became more and more marked. The introduction of the cigarette completed what the cigar had begun; barriers and prejudices crumbled and disappeared with increasing rapidity; until at the present day tobacco-smoking in England—by pipe or cigar or cigarette—is more general, more continuous, and more free from conventional restrictions than at any period since the early days of its triumph in the first decades of the seventeenth century. ”

“ Prizing tobacco applies to the packing of tobacco in hogsheads all such leaf being used for cutting purposes, cigar leaf being either cased or baled. In some sections about 800 pounds net is packed in one parcel, while in others 1000 pounds and sometimes even 1500 and 1800 pounds. "Seed leaf" tobacco in this country is all packed in cases instead of hogsheads, each case containing from 375 to 400 pounds net. It is necessary that all kinds of tobacco should be pressed in some kind of package before it is ready to be manufactured. ”