Funkiest History of Vaping
The Need for a Buzz:
Looking at history, we can see that humans have always needed a rush or a buzz to keep them going for the day. The buzz can come from anywhere or anything! For some, it can come from doing something daring like jumping from a mountain or fighting a polar bear! But for us ordinarily extraordinary people, a simple hit of nicotine with lots of clouds can do just that thing. So, people got inventive! What amazing creatures we are!
How Cigarettes Came and Stayed and Went:
Of course, in ancient times, people got that kick from hunting or discovering fire! But some brainiacs knew even then! Chewing tobacco could do the same thing! And for many centuries, people stuck to chewing tobacco leaves. Until they realised they could get that euphoria from smoking tobacco too! And alas! Cigarettes were born. What a great use for fire, no? And for centuries and centuries, they basked in all the false glory of cigarettes for ages, until 224 years ago! When a doctor by the name of Benjamin Rush first pointed out how smoking can cause "incurable diseases", It took a Dr. "Rush" to notice that the "rush" from cigarettes was harmful. The irony! Though, it wouldn't be until the 50s that we would get seriously concerned about the dangers of smoking. And then started to think of other ways to get that nicotine high without the stinking smelly cigarettes. Enter Joseph Robinson!!!!
The Evolution of Vaping!
1927, New York:
It was a chilly day in 1927 New York when a man called Joseph Robinson filed the first patent for what we would years later call a vape, but he called it 'Mechanical Butane Ignition Vaporizer.' what a mouthful! His patent was approved three years later, but Robinson never really brought it to the market, and the concept was lost to time. Until Herbert Gilbert entered the scene.
In 1963, a metal scraps dealer named Hilbert Gilbert improved on Robinson's designs and patented his design of what he called "The Smokeless." What a cool name! The Smokeless contained a liquid warmed by a battery-powered device, creating a vapour that a person inhaled. It was also a year before a landmark discovery linked cigarettes to Lung Cancer. Gilbert rightly imagined it to be a game-changer in preventing diseases and death. He said people could "smoke their favourite food." He even concocted ten flavours like mint, rum, and his favourite, cinnamon. Yum.
But sadly, he couldn't find any investors ready to fund this device's manufacturing. How close we were to Vape! But good things take time, or so we've heard. His plans were revolutionary, ahead of their time, and also forgotten! He didn't make one cent on his revolutionary idea that would go on to become a $10 billion industry. Don’t worry. He is still happy that his ideas went on to help so many people, and it went on to help a particular pharmacist, Hon Lik.
Enter Hon Lik, "The Father of Vaping"
The story of Hon Lik, a pharmacist from Beijing, China, is like a movie! You know! The classic father gets killed by a villain and sets his son on a path for some bloody revenge! But in this story, the villain was lung cancer, which his father acquired after a lifelong smoking addiction. And Hon Lik's path to revenge was less bloody, and more inventive, with machines and tools and all.
So, Hon Lik, who himself was a three-pack of cigarettes a day guy, took on this new crazy task of finding a way of making a new device that would make smoking less harmful. Little did he know, he would go on to make something that would bring about a revolution.
Hon Lik's Vape:
First, he experimented with various vaporisation systems to find a liquid that would best replicate the sensation of inhaling tobacco smoke, and he came up with it!! You guessed it right! Propylene glycol (PG). Coupled with vegetable glycerine (VG), add some water and nicotine to the mix, and you have yourself a working e-liquid. These would become a top choice and the key e-liquid ingredients.
Unlike Hilbert or Robinson, the one thing that Lik had on his side was technology. He had access to modern lithium batteries, which in his case would prove to be more important than the Flux Capacitor was for Marty. (Back to the future fans would get it). These batteries would allow his e-cigs to run for hours at a time.
So, he put the small lithium battery into a tube to atomise the liquid nicotine solution, and voila! The modern Vape that we're all so familiar with was born.
Vapes Becoming the Norm:
Vapes found their way to the public in 2006, when they were introduced for the first time in Europe. (Why do the Europeans get all the good things first)! Then it didn't take long for Vapes to cross onto America, where N'joy became the first major American E-cigarette brand, though they went bankrupt.
The World Health Organization was left baffled by this new device that was making waves worldwide. And after so many long and detailed studies, it was deemed that Vapes are at least 95% less harmful than cigarettes.
Since 2015, there has been no stopping the Vapes. They've become a part of life now, with so many major companies and brands investing in it. The vape industry is bigger than ever now, with Juul being the first modern vape brand that went all digital on it. And with the rise of disposables, mods, vape boxes, and a countless number of e-juices made by so many brands such as IVG, vaping has become the norm.
They have almost entirely replaced cigarettes as the ultimate kicking experience, it’s now been featured in Movies. The image of Humphrey Bogart smoking a cigarette in "Casablanca" is now replaced with John Cusack vaping in "Drive Hard". The thousands of years of humans looking for the kick out of hunting bears, climbing mountains, or chewing tobacco has led us to the ultimate buzzing experience, The Vape!
John Cusack vaping, in a still from the movie, “Drive Hard”