DRUM card production
JAMIE and JON
By 1905, Factory 25 in Richmond, VA was the prime center of ATC's tobacco production....and, Factory 42 in Durham, NC
was quickly expanding.
James B. Duke realized the efficiency and economic advantages of producing tobacco in the South. Annual wages in New
York ($520), New Jersey ($460, St. Louis ($425), etc. were approximately 2x that of the VA ($255) and NC ($240) plants.
Furthermore, the combination of women and children employees by then were equal to male employment at these factories.
However, they were paid considerably less than the males.
Factory 25 produced the two most popular brands......
PIEDMONT
SWEET CAPORAL
also,
AMERICAN BEAUTY
BROAD LEAF
(North) CAROLINA BRIGHTS
CYCLE
DRUM
OLD MILL
SOVEREIGN
Therefore, regarding DRUM tobacco production, the St Louis plant was no longer efficient to keep in operation. The DRUM
production was transferred to Richmond. And, based on our experience in recovering DRUM cards (T205's and T206's), we
can safely speculate that Richmond shipped most of their DRUM product out to the St Louis area (circa 1910).
TED Z
Last edited by tedzan; 11-17-2009 at 11:54 AM.
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