The Origins Of Pine Sniffing

2009-04-24T11:42:00.000-07:00

Pine Sniffing comes from the latin "Pinus" (meaning pine) and "Nidor" (meaning to smell),and originated in Roman times.

Back then pine sniffing was serious business. Pines were sniffed for a variety of different reasons, everything from predicting the weather, to promoting good health and even detecting the movement of enemy troops on a battlefield. The greatest emperor Julius Ceaser was a keen pine sniffer, as were most of the Roman senate. Have you ever seen the film Gladiator? Yup, he was a pine sniffer too!

"Maximus discusses pine sniffing with the Emperor"

Over the many years following the collapse of the Roman empire- due to a disease in "Romanus Pinus"or Roman pine, not due to massive corrpution and social decline as is commonly assumed- pine sniffing blossomed.

The age of exploration could arguably be when pine sniffing went "global", with promenant individuals such as Cook, Columbus and Wanka taking it to all corners of the world. However in some places, such as Australia, they had been sniffing pine for generations. You've probably heard of the word Kangaroo- Captain Cook asks a local what's that creature? and the local replies Kangaroo (or "i dont know"). That has been proven to be total hogwash, both linguistically and historically. What Kangaroo actually means "stop blocking my pine white boy".

"Traditional Aboriginal pine sniffing"

It is important to add that pine sniffing was also going on in Japan during these times. Indeed the samurais used to sniff a good pine before going into battle. But most importantly pine sniffing was so important to the Japanese that they made it part of their cultural greeting. You'll know that in Japan it is customary to bow when you greet someone. People will tell you it is out of respect for the person in your company. Wrong. It's actually to do with pine sniffing. You see the Japanese bow is one of the optimum techniques for sniffing a pine. Bow, sniff, pause a while to savour the smell, and then return to an upright position with a smile on your face.

"The Japanes Bow technique"

Skipping forward a few years, pine sniffing suffered a decline in the 20th century due to 2 major world wars (pines were used in the manufacture of guns and aeroplanes- most notably the P57 "Big Pine" Mustang). Not to mention a whole load of people died. It must be said however, that Hitler was anti pine and therefore prohibited the sniffing of any German pine. Despite this pine sniffers met in secret under the codename "Valkyrie",and the art was kept alive. The head of the Valkyrie operation actually lost an eye being over excited sniffing a pine, unfortunately he failed to notice he was blocking the path of a fellow sniffer.

"Undercover pine sniffer"

In 2009 pine sniffing has moved to the forefront of society. Many people are self proclaimed pine sniffers, and the popluation is growing rapidly. It is time to embrace the pine and spread the message of sniffing to all those who are uneducated.