Who Invented The Word Vaping?

The history of vape supplies and alternatives to tobacco and cigarettes is made up of two parts; there is the recent history after Dr Hon Lik’s 2003 invention of the modern e-cigarette and the century of inventions leading up to that point.

However, the device that led to the coining of the word “vaping” is not actually a vaporiser in the way that many vapers know of the technology now. It contained no moving parts, did not use electricity and did not generate any heat whatsoever, and ended in controversial circumstances.

In 1979, Phil Ray, aided by his wife Brenda Coffee and business partner Dr Norman Jacobson, started development on a device that looked like a conventional cigarette but was instead a plastic tube containing a filter paper soaked with liquid nicotine.

The idea, similar to that of modern vaping tools is that you could breathe into the device and take in a hit of nicotine without the need for smoke, tar, tobacco and the many other unhealthy ingredients.

Eventually, Mr Ray and Dr Jacobson formed Advanced Tobacco Products and marketed the new device as Favor Cigarettes specifically to existing smokers.

It wasn’t completely flawless; nicotine in this form can quickly become bitter and unpleasant as it evaporates into the paper, meaning that you had a cigarette that could, in effect, go off.

However, the concept, the marketing and successfully getting the product into large supermarkets by 1986 in the Western United States seemingly showed a potential future way for smokers to stop smoking. Brenda Coffee even coined the term “vaping” around this time as opposed to smoking.

Unfortunately, a year later, the FDA announced that it classified Favor as a nicotine delivery system, meaning that it could not be sold under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.

 Advanced Tobacco Products could have theoretically challenged the ruling, but instead ceased all distribution of Favor and quietly closed its doors.