Society Tobacco history: How ‘smoke of the gods’ became big businessWorkers in a local cigarette factory in the early 1970s. Eastern North American tribes believed tobacco to be “the smoke of the gods”, a gift from the Creator and tobacco smoke was seen as carrying one’s thoughts and prayers to the spirits. In 1588, a resident of Virginia Thomas Harriet introduced tobacco smoking as a means of getting one’s daily dose of tobacco. In the 1960s the tobacco companies targeted Third World countries, especially in emerging independent African countries where awareness was low and a middle class was growing. Tobacco companies have been forced to diversify into other fields such as food products to stay afloat.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 07, 2019 18:36 UTC