Was Vaping Invented Half A Century Earlier Than We Think?

It is easy to think that both vape kits and the need for an alternative to smoking are relatively new inventions.

Whilst the harm cigarettes cause was known as early as the 1950s, it was not that widely publicised and it was not until the 1980s when the evidence became so insurmountable that fraudulent claims, plausible deniability and good lawyers could not escape the truth.

This, alongside some preliminary research in the 1990s inspired by pioneering products in the 1980s thwarted by regulation, inspired the Chinese doctor and lifelong smoker Dr Hon Lik to develop an innovative, elaborate e-cigarette that provides much of the same sensation as smoking but without the harmful effects of tobacco.

This is where the history of vaping begins as a stop-smoking aid people can buy, and is indeed the start of the story for many people looking at the history of vaping.

However, the first innovations that would lead to the vape as we know it today were first devised 40 years before the first widely available e-cigarettes, and what is even more remarkable is just how prescient this early patent truly is.

Too Far Ahead Of Its Time? 

The original patent for the e-cigarette was filed by Herbert Gilbert, a somewhat forgotten pioneer in the world of vaping, something that will be increasingly seen as a tragedy as we explore what could have been.

A scrap metal dealer and typical “logical guy” by his own description, Mr Gilbert smoked two packets (or 40 cigarettes) a day, as did most people during a time when cartoons, doctors and sporting events prominently endorsed cigarette brands. 

By his own admission, he quit as late as 1993 when he was in his 60s, having to do so cold turkey, something that can be remarkably dangerous.

However, long before this and before the dangers of smoking were truly appreciated with evidence that was far beyond reproach, Mr Gilbert knew that inhaling smoke was not good for you.

Burning leaves and branches on a bonfire creates smoke that people should not inhale, as anyone on Bonfire Night who has the misfortune of a breeze blowing smoke into their face can attest.

He thought that the best way to fix the problem was to stop the fire in the first place, but inspired by the brewing of tea leaves, believed the alternative lay in heating flavoured nicotine-filled air and inhaling that.

Even this revelation was decades ahead of its time; until the Favor smokeless cigarette, people were unsure how harmful nicotine itself was outside of its highly addictive qualities.

He set to work creating a battery-powered vaporiser since he correctly figured that it would not take a particularly powerful source of heat to generate water vapour.

He built a number of prototypes in 1963 using the battery, glassworking and electrical circuitry available, ultimately ending up with several working prototypes that managed to create superheated steam.

According to Mr Gilbert’s patent, the fundamental components of his design are identical in concept to the ones seen in more modern applications of the design.

Whilst the batteries are different, the shape of the vape juice tank is different, the components are smaller and more advanced, and the composition of modern vapes consists of either nicotine salts or a mix of propylene glycol, glycerine, nicotine and whatever flavourings are added rather than water, the fundamental principle remains largely the same.

He was hugely convinced about its potential to replace smoking with a healthier alternative, describing his invention simply as the “Smokeless”.

However, this was not the only potential use he touted it for. Predicting the potential popularity of flavoured vapes, Mr Gilbert not only developed some prototypical vapour flavours but even touted the early vape’s potential for helping people with alcoholism or even weight loss.

The logic there was that instead of eating unhealthy foods, dieters could take a puff of their favourite tastes and, so his logic went, would be satiated by that.

Quite how this would work in practice will likely never be known since Mr Gilbert’s aim to change people’s smoking habits a few years before the Surgeon General’s warning and 35 years before the Master Settlement ultimately proved fruitless.

Nobody was particularly keen to market or produce his invention, and by the time manufacturers were considering smoking cessation products, Mr Gilbert’s patent had long expired. 

Even Favor, the first smokeless cigarette and the product which coined the term ‘vaping’ in the first place would not see a limited commercial release until four years after Mr Gilbert’s patent expired, although it used a very different system to both his invention and modern vapes.

There are a lot of reasons why this might be. Part of it was that outside of vaping’s tactile similarity to smoking, it would be far more difficult to make the claim that someone could inhale the taste of their favourite foods and it would help satiate hunger. If anything, it was likely to do the opposite.

Mr Gilbert later claimed that a big reason was that the manufacturers he demonstrated his device to waited until the patent expired and then set to work making their own, although this neglects the fact that it was not until the early 2000s that serious work went into an e-cigarette with the Ruyan.

The most likely reason is also the most tragic; it was ahead of its time but perhaps far too early.

The 1950s until the 1970s was perhaps the single most aggressive period for tobacco advertising ever seen and would ever be seen. Up until the mid-1960s, it was legal to market cigarettes to children and one tinkerer was unlikely to surpass the cultural capital of Fred Flintstone.

In 1963, cigarette manufacturers were still outright lying to customers in a way that would lead to one of the greatest health crises of the 20th century if not in human history.

Ultimately, Mr Gilbert did not profit from his patent, although he has since claimed he was grateful for saving millions of lives and helping people to quit.

Nevertheless, there is some regret in what could have been and what could have happened had a manufacturer taken a chance on the Smokeless, creating an e-cigarette as early as the mid-1960s, right as the Surgeon General’s Warning started to reveal the true dangers of smoking.