Smoking Concert ticket — the Bell Inn, Lydbrook

Smoking concerts were live

performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

s, usually of

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, before an

audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), or ...

of men only, popular during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. These social occasions were instrumental in introducing new musical forms to the public. At these functions men would smoke and speak of politics while listening to live music. These popular gatherings were sometimes held at hotels. The crews of ''

HMS Curlew Nine ships and a base of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Curlew'' after the bird, the curlew: * was a 16-gun brig sloop launched in 1795 that foundered in 1796. * was a 16-gun sloop, previously named ''Leander'', purchased in 1803 an ...

'' and ''

HMS Hawkins HMS ''Hawkins'' was the lead ship of her class of five heavy cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the First World War, although the ship was not completed until 1919. She was assigned to the China Station until 1928 and was briefly assigne ...

'' attended a Smoker aboard '' USS Huron'' in

Wei-hai-wei Weihai (), formerly called Weihaiwei (), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport in easternmost Shandong province. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east, and is the closest Chinese city to South Korea. Weihai's popula ...

harbour,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, on 19 August 1921. Although the concerts are now obsolete, the term continued and is used for student-organised variety performances, especially at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Annual Smoking Concerts were held at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

into the 1980s and continue at

Glasgow University Union Glasgow University Union (GUU) is one of the largest and oldest students' unions in the UK, serving students and alumni of the University of Glasgow since 1885. The GUU organises social affairs for its members, provides catering and entertainm ...

. The saying "Booking for smoking concerts now" came into use at this time meaning that a person had recovered and was in the prime of health. This saying is used in the works of writer

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...

.{{cn, date=January 2018 The

Liverpool Medical Students Society The Liverpool Medical Students Society (LMSS) is the official Medsoc of the School of Medicine at the University of Liverpool. The mission of the society is to represent and care for the students of the School of Medicine of the University of L ...

at the

University of Liverpool School of Medicine The University of Liverpool School of Medicine is a medical school located in Liverpool, United Kingdom and a part of the University of Liverpool. It is one of the largest medical schools in the UK, and in 1903 became one of the first to be i ...

still hold an annual smoking concert, a tradition going back 130 years. Each of the five year groups present a play annuall

References

#Eva Mantzourani (Canterbury Christ Church University College), ‘The Aroma of the Music and the Fragrance of the Weed’: ''Music and Smoking in Victorian London''.

External links

Picture of a Victorian hotel with a smoking concerts advertisement. Performances Smoking