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Question:

Did a lot of people smoke in the olden days?

Answer:

Yes, unfortunately! Tobacco use was widespread in early America because tobacco was cheap and widely grown -- and not subject to import taxes by European governments. In colonial America, most smokers used clay pipes; others chewed "cut plug," the cheapest form of tobacco. After 1800, tobacco chewing (and the accompanying spitting!) was almost inescapable in America. English writer Charles Dickens, after a visit to the United States, complained about "the odious practise of chewing and expectorating" that he found "in all the public places...."

The floors of barrooms, courtrooms, and even some churches were black with spit from tobacco chewers. While cigarettes weren't yet invented, cigars (or "segars") were, and they became an expensive -- showy -- way to indulge in the habit of smoking.

Most smokers were men, but a fair number of women were smoking pipes or dipping snuff as the 19th century began. Those practices fell off among New England women during the early part of the century, as Americans began to adopt more genteel standards for womanliness and overall cleanliness for both their houses and themselves.