History of tobacco growing in the US

rustedrailpipes

I've been reading a few books on my Kindle about the tobacco industry in North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and the recent changes to it.  Here in Georgia I find a few farmers still growing tobacco, but I can't imagine what it would have been like to drive around where there were just miles and miles of tobacco farms.

I've also enjoyed learning more about the curing and selling process, particularly around Burley so far.

motie2

@rustedrailpipes......

Recommended resource:

http://www.eacarey.co.uk/2016/03/history-tobacco-pipe-smoking-part-1/

NOTE: Part 2 is missing in action. Part 1 covers the history of tobacco; Part 2 supposedly covered the history of pipes.

I'd also recommend:

http://www.alpascia.com/moments/d/A-perfect-dried-leaf-Part-II-i24009.html

Actually, I think you'd be interested in everything at:

http://www.alpascia.com/moments/l/Tobacco

motie2

After a search of my hard drive, I also came up with these. I hope the links are all live. They are only a year old.

Tobacco in the United States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_in_the_United_States

The History of Tobacco

http://academic.udayton.edu/health/syllabi/tobacco/history.htm

Tobacco: The Early History of a New World Crop

https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/tobacco-the-early-history-of-a-new-world-crop.htm

rustedrailpipes

thanks for the extra resources @motie2

motie2

@rustedrailpipes -- My pleasure....

motie2

KA9FFJ

My grandfather owned a tobacco farm in Kentucky. He raised Burley and Virginia. One of the hottest jobs I ever did as a kid was being placed in the top of the open barns and hanging the tobacco leaves on long poles in racks to cure. Another hot job was to "sucker" (deworm) the plants when they got to be around 4 - 5 feet high. Usually just high enough to not allow any breeze to cool you off. Anyway, I find the resources posted by motie2 very interesting... Thanks...

xDutchx

Here is a vid that some my find interesting by OneManSmoke on his You Tube channel. Several of his videos document the internal workings of a modern day tobacco farm. If I am not mistaken, this one is somewhere in Kentucky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBSclcKaKNU

KA9FFJ

@xDutchx That is a great video. Brought back a lot of memories when viewing the old tobacco barn. Nearest I can tell, the farm is located somewhere near Carrollton, KY.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing...

xDutchx

@KA9FFJ, Glad you enjoyed the video. If you go to OneManSmokes channel, you can browse other videos he has shot at the same farm, all with different themes, and very educational.

Londy3

What's up with not using any heat or other commercial methods? That's just air drying.  

xDutchx

@Londy3, If I am not mistaken, the tobacco farmer grows the tobacco, harvests it, and then takes it to market. Any aging, blending, etc. is usually done by the manufacturer in house.I have read before that some folks have experimented with smoking unprocessed tobacco, and were disappointed with the raw product.

KA9FFJ

 @Londy3 The barns used for Burley are usually "open" barns. The technical  term for Burley is "air cured". This air curing is done, again, in large open barns by the natural air flow for one or two months (usually two). @xDutchx is correct that if the Burley is smoked as is (that is prior to processing through blending and/or casting), it can be very harsh.

I know from experience that being at the top on one of those barns hanging poles of tobacco leaves in late summer is one of the hottest jobs I have ever done. I would help my Grandpa every summer starting at 9 years old through 13. I wish I would have known about child labor laws back then.  ...