Tag: Pipe smoking

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Famous pipesmokers Pipe smoking Tobacco

The Woman Who Snuffed Out Santa’s Pipe-Smoking

Jultomten röker pipa

The Story of How Santa Went from a Jolly Pipe-Smoking Saint to a Soda-Loving Softie.

Santa of Yesteryear – Always with a Pipe in His Mouth

For centuries, Santa Claus was often depicted cheerfully puffing on his pipe while busy with Christmas preparations. He usually looked jovial, with a rosy glow on his cheeks more often than not.

He seemed to favor curved or semi-curved pipes, though he’s been seen with many styles over the years.

Santa started his journey as a bishop in Patara, in what is now Turkey, around the 4th century. Back then, he was known as Saint Nicholas, a pious man renowned for his generosity.

Santa’s Favorite Tobacco

It’s easy to imagine him filling his pipe with Izmir or another dark oriental tobacco grown in the region.

Perhaps it was spiritual contemplation that led him to leave the bishopric, move to the North Pole, and dedicate himself full-time to spreading joy with his generosity.

In 1881, he was immortalized in a classic image, happily puffing on a churchwarden pipe while on his way to deliver Christmas gifts. That may well have been when he had the most fun.

Thomas Nast’s iconic depiction of Santa Claus enjoying his churchwarden pipe.

Whether it was a lapse in judgment or simply getting swept up in the spirit of the roaring 1920s is hard to say, but he can’t blame youthful recklessness for briefly taking up cigarette smoking during that era.

Santa Claus smoking a cigarette in a 1920 advertisement.

Order was eventually restored, and we once again saw Santa good-naturedly puffing on his pipe. As tradition demands—at least in Sweden—he would also graciously accept a shot of schnapps when delivering gifts.

Neither tobacco nor schnapps were allowed for Santa after Coca-Cola entered the picture. His beard became more neatly groomed, and his roundness less pronounced.

In the 1930s, Coca-Cola wooed him over. It was no longer considered appropriate for him to drink anything other than a certain fizzy soda or to smoke.

Just over a decade ago, Santa definitively stubbed out his last smoke. Canadian entrepreneur, anti-smoking advocate, and publisher Pamela McColl released a smoke-free version of the classic ’Twas the Night Before Christmas. The New York Post and Vanity Fair were the first to report the news, which quickly spread across global media.

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Pipe smoking

Late night smoke


Enjoying Red Rapparee in the Stanwell pipe as darkness falls

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Tobacco & medicine

Blowing Smoke Where the Sun Don’t Shine: A Life-Saving Trick

A drowned, seemingly lifeless woman was pulled from the water.

Her desperate husband received advice from a passing sailor to introduce tobacco smoke into his wife’s rectum. The man found a pipe, lit the tobacco, inserted the mouthpiece, and blew smoke into her rear.

As if by miracle, the woman regained consciousness.

The year was 1746, and this is one of the first documented cases where this method was used to save a life.

The technique quickly spread across Britain, then to Germany and France. Soon, it became standard medical practice for reviving drowning victims across Europe, according to the esteemed medical journal The Lancet. 

Tobacco smoke better in the rear

Introducing tobacco smoke rectally was considered superior to blowing air directly into the lungs. According to medical experts of the time, it not only dried and warmed the body from the inside but also stimulated both the lungs and the heart.

Nicotine was then regarded as a cure-all for various ailments, from hysteria and headaches to “women’s diseases.”

A tobacco pipe typically has a mouthpiece about 15 centimeters long, which is perhaps not the most desirable tool for blowing smoke into someone’s posterior.

Machine for blowing tobacco smoke

Special life-saving kits began to be mass-produced in various parts of Europe. The apparatuses were then distributed along the Thames by the Royal Humane Society. They also established infirmaries where drowning victims could be taken to be revived using tobacco smoke and nicotine.

Device for blowing tobacco smoke into the anus. Picture: Wikipedia

The organization is still active under the protection of the British royal family, although nowadays it uses different methods to save lives.

The first instruments for blowing smoke could lead to unpleasant surprises if you happened to inhale instead of blowing. Therefore, the modern resuscitation devices with bellows quickly became popular.