Early History

-Tobacco was first used by the peoples of the pre-Columbian Americas. Native Americans apparently cultivated the plant and smoked it in pipes for medicinal and ceremonial purposes.

Christopher Columbus brought a few tobacco leaves and seeds with him back to Europe, but most Europeans didn't get their first taste of tobacco until the mid-16th century, when adventurers and diplomats like France's Jean Nicot - for whom nicotine is named - began to popularize its use. Tobacco was introduced to France in 1556, Portugal in 1558, and Spain in 1559, and England in 1565.

The first successful commercial crop was cultivated in Virginia in 1612 by Englishman John Rolfe. Within seven years, it was the colony's largest export. Over the next two centuries, the growth of tobacco as a cash crop fueled the demand in North America for slave labor.

Cigars,Cigarettes

At first, tobacco was produced mainly for pipe-smoking, chewing, and snuff. Cigars didn't become popular until the early 1800s. , which had been around in crude form since the early 1600s, didn't become widely popular in the United States until after the Civil War, with the spread of "Bright" tobacco, a uniquely cured yellow leaf grown in Virginia and North Carolina. Cigarette sales surged again with the introduction of the "White Burley" tobacco leaf and the invention of the first practical cigarette-making machine, sponsored by tobacco baron James Buchanan "Buck" Duke, in the late 1880s.

Varieties of Tobacco

American cigarettes are a blend of three main tobaccos: Bright, Burley and Oriental. Most Bright and Burley is grown in the United States, while Oriental tobacco, also known as Turkish, is grown in several Mediterranean countries. Bright, which is often called flue-cured or Virginia tobacco, is similar to the large-leaf Spanish tobacco planted by John Rolfe. It is grown primarily in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama and Florida. Burley tobacco is primarily grown in Kentucky and Tennessee, and also in North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.

Bright Tobacco

Bright tobacco matures from the bottom leaves up, so they are picked first; then each succeeding layer as they mature, until only the top leaves are left for final harvest. Leaves are graded according to their position on the stalk.