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Tobacco use was wholeheartedly embraced by folks living in the
mid 1800s. It was smoked in cigars & pipes and chewed in plug form.
Both men and women used tobacco, and in those days children began puffing at
a shockingly early age. Tobacco use also varied among social and economic
factions.
Cigars Most well-to-do gentleman would take manly delight in puffing on fine cigars. Indeed, fine cigars were considered to be quite a status symbol, and the conspicuous consumption of them was any gentlemen's right and due. Cigars were often stored in boxes and humidors of fine craftsmanship, fashioned of rare woods or precious metals.
A lady of quality would never consider smoking, it just was not done.
The Victorians even had "drawing rooms", originally the withdrawing room, were ladies would go after dinner to socialize, while the men lingered over the dining table with their cigars and brandies. The men would discuss topics unfit for feminine ears, while drinking and making as much smoky odor as they pleased.
Considered a manly pleasure, it should be noted that the few reckless & rebellious women who smoked cigars fully intended to raise eyebrows. Others were of the "fallen" type, who had no social status to lose by doing as they pleased.
Pipes
Tobacco smoked in pipes spanned the social order, and only the quality of the
pipe and tobacco set the classes apart.
Wealthy gentlemen consumed finely cured, flavored tobaccos in pipes of exquisite craftsmanship. These pipes were fashioned of rare woods, cunningly carved stone, or painted and glazed porcelain. Stems could be long or short, straight or curved. A gentlemen might have an extensive collection of pipes, displayed with pride in his home. Tobacco boxes or humidors would be crafted of fine materials.
The
middle class gentleman would likely have a favorite pipe of fine wood, carved
stone or figured clay. He would procure the finest tobaccos he could afford,
kept in a nice tobacco tin for freshness. Some middle class women smoked
pipes, but many tried to imitate their betters by avoiding such unladylike behavior.
The lower classes used pipes fashioned of clay, corncob, or home carved wood. Men and women enjoyed their pipes with great gusto. The tobacco was not of the highest quality.
Chewing Tobacco This was the most widely used method of enjoying tobacco during the 1860's.
"Chawin" tobacco is not chewed, it is placed in the mouth between the cheek and gum and allowed to settle. The nicotine juice was swallowed and absorbed through the gum, then the spent wad was spit out. Workmen (and working women, too) usually adopted this method because they were too busy to fiddle with pipes and such. It was a widespread practice and most establishments featured a spittoon to preserve their floors.
Most of the tobacco processed and sold in the US (and CS) was plug tobacco, intended for chewing. The US and CS military supplied it's soldiers with plug tobacco, so soldiers had to acquire cigars and pipe tobacco on their own.
Cigarettes Although these items were indeed around during the Civil War, they were often considered effeminate and did not enjoy widespread use until mass manufacture began in 1864. Two brands of cigarettes made in the US before 1864 were Durham and Century. Cigarettes had been manufactured in England since 1856, but their use was not wide-spread in the states.
Cigarettes were manufactured exclusively in Northern factories and would have been a scarce item for Southerners. As American cigarettes were relatively expensive and not widely available, it seems reasonable to accept that only a fraction of tobacco consumed was in the form of cigarettes.
A form of cigarette called cigaritos (tobacco rolled in corn husk) were enjoyed by a few Mexican War veterans.
Snuff This usage had fallen out of favor in the US, and was only rarely snorted by the youth of the leisure classes for the nicotine "jolt" it provided. It caused profuse sneezing and was considered vulgar.
Please
be considerate by using tobacco in a period correct form. Chewers already
practice the most popular method of tobacco consumption during the 1860s.
Smokers should use a pipe or smoke cigars if practical and avoid smoking cigarettes
at reenactments.
If you do use cigarettes, enjoy them as the luxury item they would have been before 1864. Be prepared for envious glances, or possibly some teasing for your "effeminate", European style of smoking. Be sure your cigarettes do not have filters or printing on the papers. Lose the Marlboro box and keep your cigarettes wrapped in a paper packet or a pouch.
Cigarette smokers generally do not like the taste of pipe tobacco. You can tear open a few of your cigarettes and keep the resulting tobacco in a little tin or leather pouch. Pack this in your pipe and you can enjoy the flavor you are accustomed to at reenactments. Others claim that the taste of bulk "roll-your-own" tobaccos such as Drum or Top are so close to the major brands (if not better) that they make good pipe material for cigarette smokers.
A clay or corncob pipe can be inexpensively purchased at most sutlers. Some have a plastic stem, if you cannot find a replacement paint the stem an "ivory" color so it looks like bone, ivory or antler. Your pipe should be treated as a cherished item, wrapped in leather or cloth to preserve it and carried on your person at all times.
If you smoke cigars, do not use the type with the plastic filter/mouthpiece or break if off before bringing it to a reenactment. Likewise, cigars in a plastic wrapper should be unsheathed before the you bring them to the reenactment. Keep them in a jar or tin to preserve freshness.
The Victorians had behavior rules for just about everything they did, and tobacco was no exception. A gentleman would never smoke in front of a lady. If a lady approaches you, don't keep that cigar or pipe clamped in your teeth, but fumble about and try to hide it like the thoughtful gentleman you are.
For more information:
The WCWA has an excellent article on tobacco use
Photo image courtesy of the Library of Congress.