People used to take ether as a recreational drug (drugs used for fun, such as alcohol) in the 1800s. People would either drink a drink with small amounts of ether in it, just like people drink alcoholic drinks, or inhale the fumes given off by pure or nearly pure ether. This could have addicted these people to the ether if they did that often enough. It was a big problem in some places, like Ireland and Poland. It first became popular because Europeans thought it was unladylike to drink alcohol. Women would drink ether instead, as would teetotalers, people who had decided not to drink alcohol. 