Smoking: a 100-Year Story That Doesn’t End Here

Through the acrid haze, he can see the outline of the famous detective, Holmes, sitting in his dressing gown with a black clay pipe clenched between his lips. No children’s book would paint this scene today. But in 1902, it was common to read about characters lighting up cigarettes in a restaurant – it was a harmless vice, a gentleman’s amusement. Holmes smoking through a pound of strong tobacco, almost half a kilogram, was just what he did. Even kids recognized the iconic pictures of him smoking a pipe.