DRUM Cigarettes

[smokelessjoe]

I hope it is ok to post this over on this side of the world? I know there is allot of debate over Drum backs and I thought this may shed some light? I will leave it to you guys on that?

Has anyone ever seen this particular Adv?

The "Drum" ad measures 5.5" wide x 8" tall

The "List of Premiums" is huge! It measures 2ft tall x 1.5ft wide

of course it will not fit on my scanner and I am out a camera right now. (18 month old daughter threw it in the trash)

Would love to here any input!









Sorry about the huge scans, but the text would not come through clear unless I enlarged it.

[jimonym]

Shawn, very cool. Thanks for sharing it.
I believe that's the first ad for Drum cigarettes ever posted here, and also the first image of a Drum cigarette package from the Drummond Company.

The question I guess is whether packs still looked like that in 1909-1911 when T205s and T206s were distributed in Drum cigarettes. The American Tobacco Company acquired the Drummond Company in October 1898, shortly after the time of your advertising pieces. The ATC never produced cigarettes at the St. Louis plant, only chewing and smoking tobaccos. So far as I know, Drum cigarettes were only produced at Factory 25 in Richmond, Virginia, though there's of course very suggestive evidence that Drum remained a St. Louis area brand. And in the 1909-1911 timeframe, Drums were available in either packages of 10, or as your picture shows, 20 cigarettes.

I've never heard of the J.T. brand of tobacco. It's it a little hard to imagine redeeming your tags (700!) for 12 free POUNDS of tobacco. Wow.

[canjond]

Jamie,

That is certainly the first Drum Cigarettes ad I have ever seen but it's not the first picture of a Drum Cigarettes pack. Last summer, I spoke with a long time cigarette pack collector on the East Coast (I believe he's in his 80s) and he provided me with this scan:



It is also posted on my website. I shared the photo with the board. This is, without question, the Drum Cigarettes that was used for distribution of the T-cards. However, this pack, as the ad, dates to the late 1890s. I would bet that the actual Drum Cigarettes of the 1910-era was a 10-count slide in shell. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, we know from ATC records that this is the case. I would also venture to guess the graphics are nearly identical. Remember, Cycle Cigarettes produced boxes that looked identical to this in the 1890s, and then made 10-count boxes with identical graphics in the 1910s for the t-card distribution.

[canjond]

I should have mentioned previously that this is the only known copy of a Drum cigarette pack I have ever heard of. In fact, I didn't even know of its existence until last summer when I spoke with the owner and he informed me he had one in his collection. This box was found behind a wall during house renovation in the 1960s and given to its current owner at that time. Neither the owner of this pack, nor Jim SHaw, nor any other long-time cigarette collector has ever heard of another Drum pack. In fact, Jim Shaw didn't even know of this one even though he is the person who put me in touch with the owner.

[ethicsprof]

great picture of the ad---certainly a first for me.

very helpful and elucidative clarification,as always, Jon.

best,
barry

[smokelessjoe]

Thank you for the input!

I just scanned this in here at the office. I am guessing that the JT brand is the initials for James T Drummond, president of the company at the time.
(I think)

[smokelessjoe]

Here is a picture of what I think is one of the tags... I think it would be pretty cool to pick one up, add it to the collection and frame the whole package.

[GrayGhost]

Great stuff guys.