Culture of Smoke
I'm going compare "The High Life," and,"The Low Life."
"The High Life," discusses and shows images of how the upper classes enjoyed tobacco. Many high ranking officials were drawn smoking pipes and possessing tobacco paper. One thing to notice is that in the pictures depicted in this article, the subjects seem to be blowing smoke down on others as if an act of power and worthiness. The Gentlemen's Clubs, many created to smoke, were extremely popular and made to seem elite.
"The Low Life," depicts more the control that cigarettes held on lower classes. Smoking, compared to drinking, was considered to have a calming and numbing effect. The thought that calmed and drunken people don't riot or compare about tyranny or poor conditions, let the powerful feel as if they had control on peasants. Also, this effect not only helped to quell the masses, the rich made money off of the smoking habit too.
These two articles can be very easily compared to today. America is a tad bit different due to our large middle class and smaller upper and lower classes. Smoking today is still considered to be a dirty little habit by many but also many do it to be "one of the crowd" just like back with the smoking clubs. There are many people today that can't afford health medications but will still find a way to buy a pack or two a day. Now is that control over a person or what? This would constitute the lower class. Then there are still upper class individuals who have country clubs and men's clubs in which smoking cigars is very popular. Rich men in movies are always portayed with fine cigars so there is the upper class.
"The High Life," is written where the upper class have smoking as a recreation and as a novelty of the time. "The Low Life," is presented as the idea of control over the lower class. The artwork used as evidence for each article has different time frames. "The High Life," came first, in the sixteenth century, as a novelty. "The Low Class," shown in the seventeenth century, seems to have followed the upper class. The portrayals seem different between the two. One similarity of the two is no matter the reason started, of novelty or drunkeness, the portraits continued to show men smoking throughout at least two to three centuries. These basic characteristics can still be found today.
The weird thing is if you think about it, the upper class started smoking first so they were already "calmed and drunken," but they still ruled. So why did they believe that it would put peasants in such a haze if they were still able to function and think with it? Maybe they didn't believe that peasants were smart enough or something to over power the effect or they were only able to form one emotion or state at a time : tranquility.
"The High Life," discusses and shows images of how the upper classes enjoyed tobacco. Many high ranking officials were drawn smoking pipes and possessing tobacco paper. One thing to notice is that in the pictures depicted in this article, the subjects seem to be blowing smoke down on others as if an act of power and worthiness. The Gentlemen's Clubs, many created to smoke, were extremely popular and made to seem elite.
"The Low Life," depicts more the control that cigarettes held on lower classes. Smoking, compared to drinking, was considered to have a calming and numbing effect. The thought that calmed and drunken people don't riot or compare about tyranny or poor conditions, let the powerful feel as if they had control on peasants. Also, this effect not only helped to quell the masses, the rich made money off of the smoking habit too.
These two articles can be very easily compared to today. America is a tad bit different due to our large middle class and smaller upper and lower classes. Smoking today is still considered to be a dirty little habit by many but also many do it to be "one of the crowd" just like back with the smoking clubs. There are many people today that can't afford health medications but will still find a way to buy a pack or two a day. Now is that control over a person or what? This would constitute the lower class. Then there are still upper class individuals who have country clubs and men's clubs in which smoking cigars is very popular. Rich men in movies are always portayed with fine cigars so there is the upper class.
"The High Life," is written where the upper class have smoking as a recreation and as a novelty of the time. "The Low Life," is presented as the idea of control over the lower class. The artwork used as evidence for each article has different time frames. "The High Life," came first, in the sixteenth century, as a novelty. "The Low Class," shown in the seventeenth century, seems to have followed the upper class. The portrayals seem different between the two. One similarity of the two is no matter the reason started, of novelty or drunkeness, the portraits continued to show men smoking throughout at least two to three centuries. These basic characteristics can still be found today.
The weird thing is if you think about it, the upper class started smoking first so they were already "calmed and drunken," but they still ruled. So why did they believe that it would put peasants in such a haze if they were still able to function and think with it? Maybe they didn't believe that peasants were smart enough or something to over power the effect or they were only able to form one emotion or state at a time : tranquility.
posted by talkaholic at 12:30 AM
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