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Although it was originally meant for something important in history, its use in modern day is meant to be for harmless fun. The Airzooka, as it is now called is it main structure for making smoke rings.
We now know somewhat about the history of how the airzooka was created, but now we need to know the history of the ‘smoke rings’ that forms.
The Airzooka (known as something else back then) was born during the Cold War out of the feverish imagination of a group of scientists researching weapon design in the U.S. military weapons program. The purpose of this weapon was to defend against a Russian I.C.B.M. attack because it was originally designed to send Soviet missiles back to where they came from. Information about an Airzooka of considerable size appeared after some secret documents were declassified.
Before the Airzooka was ever created, a smoke ring generator made by Peter Guthrie Tait, was the olden days version of our times ‘Airzooka’. His generator along with Hermann von Helmholtz’s theoretical work on vortices in perfect fluids, helped what is now known as the Vortex Atom theory. This theory was formed because during the mid-1800s, vortex rings played an important role in which they were the inspiration and model for the atomic theory. William Thomson, founder of the theory, was the one who came up with the fact that atoms (the inner part being unknown) are actually complex vortex rings circulating in an aetherial “fluid”.
So why did William Thompson introduce vortex atoms to our would? Although, the theory did not really help to state the different types of atoms and did not follow experimental observations that were being made. He proposed "that different atoms might consist of multiple vortex rings linked together, or possibly single rings tangled in knots of increasing complexity."
In fact some people did not take a liking to Thomson and Tait’s atomic vortex theory because they scrutinized it. However, others saw and used it for phenomenal opportunities. As seen in the August 1942 issue of Popular Science, where an article appeared titled, “Whirling smoke rings to free cities of soot”.
There is also an attached picture of Dr. Thomas working his “vortex gun”.
Dr. Thomas hoped to use the vortex rings to "[eliminate]... smoke from industrial areas." He proposed that the vortex rings would act as a trapping device for the smoke that manufacturing plants excrete. The vortex rings would come out of "vortex guns" that would be above or under the roof. So instead of the ground being filled with the harmful smoke, the "air above an industrial plant would be clean and pure, filled with gigantic smoke rings hurtling heavenward at terrific speed."
Segments of the article have been taken out from a very informative site for better understanding of the scientist point of view and observation.
The article described how Dr. Phillips Thomas performed the air vortex experiment by "[aiming] the aperture at a row of one of lighted candles about ten feet away, and then [tapping] the back of the drum with a rubber hammer. Which blew out the candles instantly.
This commercial seems to be an earlier made version of today's Airzooka.
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