A cigarette, such as contemporaries used to see and use it, appeared only 2-3 centuries ago. But smoking accessories like a cigarette have been used since ancient times by the inhabitants of the American continent.
What is a cigarette?
The word cigarette has French roots and literally translates as a small cigar. At its core, a cigarette is shredded tobacco leaves and stems compressed into a thin tube and wrapped in tissue paper. Each producer of tobacco products uses a certain type of paper and tobacco raw materials, and the cost and even popularity of cigarettes directly depends on their quality. A true connoisseur will easily distinguish in appearance a bad product, indicate where and when it was produced and by which manufacturer.
When did the first cigarette appear
If we talk about the form and method of smoking tobacco, the first cigarette was made by the ancient Indians, who wrapped shredded tobacco in the leaves of corn. Often, instead of tobacco, they used dried straw of cereal plants or linden leaves, herbs.
Of course, Columbus, America's discoverer, brought the custom of inhaling plant smoke to the European continent. Smoking was available only to aristocrats and was not yet such an addiction as it is now.
Mass production of cigarettes began in the most aristocratic country in the world - England, where the first cigarette factory was opened. But the machine for producing cigarettes was invented by an American, of course, of European descent.
In Europe and Asia, among ordinary people, cigarettes began their triumphal journey during the Russo-Turkish war. The soldiers in the trenches did not have enough time for long breaks and hastily wrapped tobacco in pieces of newspaper or paper shells for gunpowder.
