Cigars are a common feature of many celebrations. The tradition goes back to the origins of tobacco use and continues despite the negative health effects of tobacco.
Cigars are a common feature of a wide variety of celebrations. Whether it's a wedding, a birth, a successful business deal, or a sports victory, cigars are often smoked. However, in a time when cigars and other tobacco products are condemned for their negative effects on health, one must wonder why cigars are smoked at celebrations. In order to answer this question, one needs to examine the history of the cigar.
Tobacco is a plant that grows naturally in America. Certain Native Americans have a long tradition of smoking tobacco, and the plant was a common part of many religious ceremonies. When Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492, he also discovered the tobacco plant. Tobacco subsequently became popular in Europe and the United States, where people rolled it into cigars.
The exact origin for the modern tradition of smoking cigars at celebrations remains somewhat uncertain. However, the tradition is often linked to the potlatches of the Native Americans. In this tradition, a host would invite others to celebrate a joyous occasion such as a birth or a marriage. The host would then give the guests gifts; food was the most common type of gift. This form of sharing in order to celebrate is seen by many as the root of the modern tradition of passing out cigars in order to celebrate.
The most common type of celebration in which cigars are passed out is the birth of a child. Cigars with labels reading "It's a Boy" and "It's a Girl" are common. Cigars are also frequently smoked at weddings and are occasionally seen when a successful business deal closes or when a favorite sports team wins. In one tradition, a cigar is purchased for luck and kept until a stated goal is achieved; the cigar is then smoked in order to celebrate the success. In this tradition, the cigar not only serves as a means of celebration, but also a reward that may encourage someone to work towards a goal.
In recent years, cigars have become increasingly popular. Cigar dinner events, in which guests would enjoy a meal and a cigar, became common in the 1990's. Cigars are associated not only with celebrations, but also with wealth, sophistication, and luxury. An estimated 12 million Americans are now cigar smokers.
At the same time, cigars and other tobacco products have been heavily criticized for their negative health effects. Tobacco contains at least 43 known carcinogens; smoking causes approximately 90 percent of all lung cancer cases. Smoking tobacco also causes emphysema, coronary heart disease, and oral cancer. Tobacco also contains nicotine, a highly addictive substance; because of tobacco's addictive qualities, tobacco smokers are often unable to quit even when facing deteriorating health. Cigars, due to their large size, might be even more harmful than the more common cigarettes.
Still, many people are unwilling to abandon the tradition of celebratory cigars. In an attempt at a compromise, some companies now manufacture so called candy cigars, which are made to look like cigars but contain nothing more harmful than sugar. These cigars are especially popular for celebrating births, partially due to the fact that cigar smoke is extremely harmful to newborn babies. Candy cigars have not caught on in business and sporting environments, where they are often viewed as childish.
