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I'm curious, Squatter, what makes you think realizing the dangers of smoking is a "petty fad." Just because Tolkien and other people of his day didn't realize the problems, it doesn't mean they didn't exist IN THE REAL WORLD.
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There's no need to shout. Italics will serve to emphasise your point.
I don't think that recognising the dangers of smoking is a petty fad. What I consider to be a petty fad is the elevation of healthy living to the status of a moral issue, whereby it ceases to be a personal choice and becomes something imposed by society.
To put things more clearly: the truth never changes, but people's perceptions of it are transient and are usually inspired by the culture in which they live. Tolkien wanted to get closer to the truth by escaping from his own society's opinions and attitudes, so to apply those of our own to his work is merely to return it to the fetters that he strove so hard to break.
To make matters worse, smoking is a mere detail of his world; a quaint custom among the people of the Shire rather than a central theme. Only in North-American and some European countries is it, if you will excuse the pun, a burning issue.
[ October 16, 2002: Message edited by: Squatter of Amon Rudh ]