In an age where soap and taking a bath were virtually unheard of, tobacco smoke must have smelled reasonably nice.

And of course, there's http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3001541/ (2010):

"Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase serum hemoglobin, increase total lung capacity and stimulate weight loss, factors that all contribute to enhanced performance in endurance sports."

:-)

Mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide[1] which we exhale, and heat sources (our body). Tobacco smoking produces a lot of this gas[2]. My conclusion (an educated guess) would be "no".

[1] http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/mosquitoes-find-yo...

[2] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20387988

Yes, if you blow the smoke on them, they don't like it.

But I was bitten countless times when I was a smoker, so it's not a very effective remedy.

No, it doesn't. Back when I smoked I would blow smoke at them and they would just duck and find a different direction to attack.

Works better when you blow the direct draw and not post inhale absorption. Still, its a waste and just drives them crazy so doubles the annoyance.

I don't think the nicotine in a drag is high enough to do much. From what I remember, much higher concentrations were or are used in ant killer.