Posted By:
Brian Weisner
Hi Ted,
Nice postcard.... It probably is from Factory 42, but most of those old building have been turned into condo's these days, so we may never know.
But, it does follow alonng with the sequence of events which took place during the break up of the ATC in 1911. For the most part, the judge excepted Buck Duke's "break up" plan, and seperated the ATC into four different companies by factory first and brand second. Ligget& Myers 28% of the market and took over the following brands: American Beauty, Coupon, Fatima, Homerun, King Bee and Piedmont among others. Most of these factories were located in NC, so some of these brands being produced elsewhere were moved to there new homes in NC.
P.Lorillard received Egyptian Deities, Helmar, Mogul, Murad, and Turkish Trophies, or 15% of the market and the overwhelming majority of the turkish tobacco brands.
The scaled down ATC retained 37% of the market, with Pall Mall, Sweet Cap, Hassan, and Mecca.
RJ Reynolds didn't receive any Cigarette brands, but did end up with 20% of the plug market.
I'm not sure how many of the L&G factories are still in existence, but there were quite a few 12-18 years ago when I used to go to the Durham Bulls game. I'll take a walk down memory lane sometime and hit the Duke museum to see what I can find out.
Be well Brian