Scope and Contents

This subject category, "Tobacco Trade and Industry," consists of materials related to the tobacco trade and industry. This subject category provides an extensive record of the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth century tobacco industry with materials for consumers, traders, and distributors. It forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana: Collection Division I: Business Ephemera and Division II: Oversize Materials.

Series 1, Tobacco and Tobacco Related Product Ephemera, 1781-1965, undated, is the largest portion of the tobacco related materials. This series is arranged alphabetically by manufacturer and distributor name. The materials consist of advertising cards, scraps, trade catalogs, price lists, pamphlets, labels, correspondence on letterhead stationery, bills, receipts, illustrations from periodicals, printed advertisements, periodicals, newspaper clippings, broadsides, shipping documents, handbills, premiums, promotional items, announcements, and business cards. The majority of materials are from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth- century and were created primarily for consumers, traders and distributors. Most of the materials are from the East Coast and there is a large amount of undated material. Ethnic imagery and images of women and children are prominently featured in this series. The location of the company is given when known.

Series 2, Patents and Trademarks, 1875-1904, is arranged alphabetically by patent and trademark applicants. With illustrations and descriptions, many patent and trademark documents come from East Coast patent offices during the 1870s. While this series is limited in scope, it provides numerous examples of the patenting of tobacco brand names and other related products. Additionally, it contains many images of minorities, women, and a variety of ethnic imagery.

Series 3, Bills of Lading, 1833-1925, is arranged alphabetically by location with foreign locations comprising one folder. The materials date from the late nineteenth century, and the majority is from the port of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This series not only tells a great deal about shipping and importing, but it also provides detailed information about the parties, countries, and people involved in the process of shipping tobacco around the world. Although the collection is somewhat varied, the majority of the bills of lading have date stamps, detailed port information, and information about the imported tobacco itself. Other locations include Maryland, New York, Cuba, and foreign locales.

Series 4, Lithographs, undated, is a series of labels for packages and products arranged alphabetically. It is a great resource for the study of early American advertising. Although most of the product labels are undated, they are probably of the late nineteenth to early twentieth- century. The majority of companies were based in New York, New York.

Series 5, Ephemera and Photographs, 1750-1957, undated, is arranged and organized by type of material. This series is comprised of general images, cigar store Indian images, auction lists, packing for tobacco products, and advertising cards, and contains a wealth of documentation of the American tobacco market. One of the best resources of this series is its collection of cigar bands. There are two photographs within this series, one depicting the exterior of a tobacco shop and another photograph of ladies working with shade grown tobacco, most likely in Connecticut. This series contains a copy of the Burr McIntosh photograph, "Leaves of Desire".

Series 6, Publications, 1742-1962, undated, consist of articles, books, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals. One of the most useful portions of this series is the anti-tobacco related publications. The series contains tobacco-related articles. In addition to a few articles about tobacco companies, there are publications that contemplate the issues behind smoking. This series also contains tobacco related clippings from magazines and periodicals. Directories are also included in this series. The sheer variety of the material is vast, including essays from The Farm Quarterly and United States government documents. Tobacco is the only unifying factor. Researchers may be interested in La Santa Yerba, a late nineteenth-century book containing verses and other reflections on the tobacco plant itself.

Materials in the Archives Center

Archives Center Collection of Business Americana (AC0404)

Forms Part Of

Forms part of the Warshaw Collection of Business Americana.