Tobacco Leaves was written by John Bain in 1903 and resembles his 1896 book Tobacco in Song and Story. He writes in his Introduction, “Tobacco and its uses have contributed to so many phases of human nature and the social life of centuries, that it is not strange indeed that it should inspire each new generation of smokers and writers, much new thought in the form of prose and poetry and philosophy.” Bain says that this volume is supposed to add to the literature on tobacco in two ways: 1) it pulls together information that you’d need to look in many places to find and 2) it adds a modern twist to the information (modern for the time, anyway).
Bain starts his book with an introduction to the Vuelta Abajo district in Cuba, with notes about the changing nature of cigar work there. As mechanization and consolidation appeared, Bain said of cigar factories, “the good fellowship is becoming business indifference; the good-natured espirit de corps is there still, but it has lost much of its hopefulness and joy.”
Tobacco Leaves contains a lot of tobacco-related poetry. There are short pieces about famous people who have smoked cigars. Bain reviews the literature of tobacco, and notes, “It is in its literature, however, that tobacco can claim its greatest distinction. What real writer has not written of the delights of smoking?”
Bain wrote a section called Do’s, Don’ts, Nevers, and Remembers for Smokers that says:
- Give your last cigar away occasionally. It will make you feel better.
- Don’t light a cigar in the presence of a respected friend or acquaintance, unless you give him one. This does not apply to employees, fellow boarders, or any one with whom you come in daily contact.
- Never refuse a light to any smoker. If you haven’t a match give him, let him borrow some of your fire, even if it spoils your cigar.
- Remember that all smokers are equal – when smoking.
- Do keep a fresh pipe – if he is a pipe smoker – for your friend.
- Do the “nice thing” once in awhile. If you have more than one cigar, and notice a man looking sadly out of the smoking-car window, proffer him one of your smokes, with the understanding that there have been times when you were short on smokes and long on loneliness yourself.
- Give your friend your best cigar. You’ll have lots of fine future smokes coming to you if you do.
- Remember you can display more brotherly feeling in the way you proffer a cigar than in a world of nice words or small loans.
- Remember that the hospitable smokers is one of nature’s choicest creations.
- Never play a joke on a smoker. Don’t give the meanest of them a loaded cigar. It’s a brutal, dangerous, and stupid thing to do.
- Don’t be a cigar or cigarette ‘sponge.’ It’s a low down habit. You can lose your self-respect and the respect of your friends more in this way than any other.
- Don’t be a strutting, nose-tilting smoker. It’s tough.
- Never smoke in the presence of ladies, unless you know it is not offensive. If you don’t know, ask them. If they object, don’t smoke. In spite of Kipling, any good woman is far finer than any cigar ever dreamed of.
- Life is too short for poor food, poor company, poor clothes, and poor smokes.
- Remember that silence and a good cigar are two of the finest things on earth. Even a hermit can be an angel under these circumstances, and a man of the world a man of the other world.
- Puff your smoke heavenward, and pitch your thoughts toward the clouds.
There are many similarly-interesting writings to be found in this book. It’s worth at least a skim, if not a full read.
Tobacco Leaves is in the public domain and can be read for free on Google Books.