The beginnings for the US are very sketchy... found this:
Who Invented the Electronic Cigarette?
"The product gained such popularity in the UK and Europe, that British parliament passed legislation legalizing the use of e cigs indoors and in other places that traditional smoking has become banned. Since the gain in popularity in Europe, the electronic cigarette has been introduced to the American market through a variety of distributors to include GreenSmoke, Cigana, ePuffer, and Blu e cig companies with no one individual being credited for bringing the product to the United States."
Unfortunately, imo, some of the early companies - Blu, Njoy and Smoking Everywhere - had - with the product and the way they were promoted and how early customers were handled. Still many here had them and it was some seasoned vets - a few still here and many now gone, that helped people deal with those early style of ecigs. I'd surely miss someone if I started listing them but for certain our Smokey Joe - original owner - would be at the top of the list, imo.
That said, here at ECF you can get an idea (some are missing or have changed places due to various causes) by looking at the Suppliers list:
Forum Suppliers
As the blurb states "Listed approximately in order of tenure at ECF, longest-serving at the top." Totally Wicked and TECC were also very early on but TECC is gone, I believe and TW is further down the list now. Janty was a big player too.
I know that doesn't answer all your questions but no one else had replied so I thought I'd throw in some of what I know.
