Vintage from non smoking home

[CliffG]

I can not help but laugh a little when I read a description of something for sale on the bay claiming to be vintage this or that and at the bottom line of the disclaimer section they say that this is from a non smoking home.
The last time I saw this was for a pre world war two wool coat.
Well, I can not lie, I had to click the ask a question button and ask if they could personally guarantee that this item that is older than me and them put together was and had never been in a smokers home, or had never been exposed to second hand smoke; no reply as of yet.
When did this whole non smoking household thing come about? If I see something that is older than ...say 10 years I am pretty sure that some one has smoked around it, or in it, or something, but come on! something that is vintage? I remember everyone I knew smoked, I could go to the grocery store when I was in junior high and buy a pack of any thing I wanted to smoke if I had the money.
I can sort of understand if you are buying something that may have picked up the smell of tobacco smoke, but what about a pocket watch fro crying out loud! gold does not absorb odors, nor does brass, silver, stainless steel, or what ever type of metal.
anyway, I am done ranting and will go back to reading more FL posts and fishing on the bay.
Cliff

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Nor do fabrics retain those odors forever.

I'm a person who cannot stand the smell of cigarettes. In 2001, I bought my '67 Chrysler. I found evidence proving that, at some point, the car had been smoked in at least occasionally. The car had been stored, closed and locked, for well over a decade before I bought it. Yet, I smelled nothing but the car itself while seated within.

Which, in my opinion, means that unless they're talking about the current home in which the item is stored, the point is moot.

 

[VintageVixie]

The idea that something is from a nonsmoking home isn't about if it has ever been exposed to smoke. It's about what is on the item now.

And while yes some of us just think cigs stink to high heaven, for some of is it's extremely important to know something is from a nonsmoking home, and one assumes it means currently. I am deathly allergic, no exaggeration, to cigarette smoke and its residue. If I open a package from a smoker's home, the residue alone can be enough to cause me to have an asthma attack and end up in the ER. It's happened when someone who smokes but hasn't in a while sits next to me on public transportation (which is why I don't take it anymore.), and boom I'm in the ER with an asthma attack. I *need* to know if I'm buying something that has been around smokers in the recent past. It's not an option for me to take the chance.

While everyone is not as sensitive to it as I am, plenty of people would rather not deal with getting the stink out, it can take multiple cleanings and exposure to air. I've even known smokers who were very careful about not carrying the smell around who ranted about something they bought online stinking of smoke so bad they couldn't use it for awhile.

 

[CliffG]

I guess they are only refering to the last home the coat was kept at, as I can not see how they can say indefinantly for the life of the item, especially when it is that old.