Human beings have been using nicotine for thousands of years. But have you ever wondered how we went from smoking dried tobacco leaves to puffing on high-tech devices that create flavoured clouds from vapour? The history of vaping is more intriguing and longer than most people suspect. So, let’s take a little stroll through the mists of vaping history and explore the milestones that led to our modern vapes.
The Ancient Origins of Vaping
Even before Europeans were introduced to tobacco by North America’s Indigenous population, ancient Egyptians had already long been inhaling vapours by heating oils on hot stones. Sure, they likely weren’t blowing clouds that smelled like strawberry, but it was certainly laying the groundwork for the future.
Smoking Concerns: The Mother of Vaping Invention
The modern era of vaping, however, can be traced back to the 1800s, when doctors first started seeing lip cancer cases in smokers. Soon, lung cancer cases were being reported, as well. These new-found health risks associated with smoking tobacco are what started people thinking about finding different alternatives.
The First Electric Vaporizer
The first documented mention of a vaping-type device was in 1927 when an American named Joseph Robinson filed for a patent on something called a ‘mechanical butane ignition vaporizer.’ The patent was approved in 1930, but nothing ever came of the product.
The Invention of the Modern Vape
It wasn’t until 1963 that someone returned to the idea of a tobacco alternative in earnest. Herbert A. Gilbert was the first person to get a patent on a ‘smokeless non-tobacco cigarette.’ The device heated flavoured air instead of burning tobacco, which offered users the taste of smoking without having to actually inhale harmful smoke. Unfortunately, the device never really caught on with the mainstream population and it disappeared into the mists of time.
A few different people continued working on the idea, including Phil Ray and Normal Jacobson who worked on a variation of the smokeless cigarette in the 80s with a device using nicotine-soaked paper – but again, these devices never caught on with the public.
But everything changed in the early 2000s when a Chinese pharmacist named Hon Lik invented the first commercially successful e-cigarette. Following the death of his father from lung cancer, Hon Lik wanted to quit smoking himself. He invented a device that used a tiny battery-powered heating element to vaporize a solution made with nicotine. His invention quickly became popular in China and then the rest of the world… and we’ve been blowing clouds ever since.
The Flavour Explosion
The next milestone in vaping history was the introduction of new flavours. When vapes were first introduced to North America, they mainly only came in tobacco or menthol flavours. However, Juul was one of the first companies to start adding mint or fruit flavours and as soon as people realized they could start vaping their favourite flavours – cotton candy, coffee, and every fruit flavour under the sun – the e-juice industry was born!
And there it is! From ancient history to today, people have inhaling vapours for enjoyment and a bit of a rush. What does the future hold for vaping? That all depends on ever-stricter government regulations, new technologies and the continued drive to find a safer way to enjoy nicotine. So, stay tuned.
