Piedmont, Liggett & Myers, and ATC: A Clarification

[White Borders]

I believe there might be a misconception about the Piedmont brand, Ligget & Myers (L&M), and the American Tobacco Co (ATC).

Apparently it is thought by some or perhaps many that upon the breakup of ATC in 1911-1912, L&M was formed and was given the Piedmont brand.

Actually, L&M was incorporated in the 1870's as a St. Louis based company.

In 1899, L&M was aquired by ATC, but there is no evidence that L&M ever ceased to exist.

In 1905, the Piedmont brand was created with the manufacturer being L&M.

Reference: Directory of Cigarette Brands, 1864-1988

In 1911-12 ATC was broken up into 4 companies: American Tobacco, L&M, Lorillard, and RJReynolds. Piedmont remained with L&M.

Liggett & Myers was given about 28 per cent of the cigarette market:
Piedmont
Fatima
American Beauty
Home Run
Imperiales
Coupon
King Bee
Fatima (the only 15 Turkish blend
and the cheap straight domestic brands.

P. Lorillard received 15 per cent of the nation's business:
Helmar
Egyptian Deities
Turkish Trophies
Murad
Mogul
and all straight Turkish brands

American Tobacco retained 37 per cent of the market:
Pall Mall, its expensive all-Turkish brand, named for a fashionable London street in the 18th century where "pall-mall" (a precursor to croquet) was played.
Sweet Caporal
Hassan
Mecca

R. J. Reynolds received no cigarette line but was awarded 20 per cent of the plug trade.

Reference: Tobacco Timeline: The Twentieth Century 1900-1949


All four of the companies formed from the breakup existed before falling under the ATC umbrella and I believe they all continued to exist throughout their time with ATC.

What I'm still working out is that ATC appears to have been the controlling company, holding a majority in stock of Consolidated Tobacco and Continental Tobacco. In turn Consolidated and Continental appear to have held the controlling stock of most of the other companies. But I'm not sure if Consolidated and/or Continental existed until the breakup of ATC.


Best Regards and Happy Collecting
Craig