How much for a pack of cigs in 1909 ????

[mybuddyinc]

Hope this isn't conceived as "another T206 thread" (not that there's anything wrong with that. )

Sure Piedmont and Sweet Cap. are most common, due to distribution (both in volume and number of years distributed) and price. And would imagine the other brands follow proportionally.

Without going into my convoluted ideas between the two factors (and keeping things simple), I'd just like to get some feedback (or facts) on price.

Simply looking at the back of Coupon Cigs., we know in 1914 you got 20 cigs. for 5 cents (4 cigs./cent). In 1919, Coupons jumped to 16 cigs. for 10 cents (1.6 cigs./cent). That's a 2.5x decrease in cigs./cent. Doing a purely speculative backward multiplication to 1909: 20 cigs./5 cents x2.5 = 50 cigs for 5 cents (10 cigs./cent).

So:

Is there any documentation of cig. prices in 1909-11 (advertisements I know exist) ?

Is 10 cigs./cent a good/believable "low end/cheap" cigarette price ?

Did a pack of American Beauty or Tolstoi cost twice as much as a pack of Piedmont/Sweet Cap. ?
Or a pack of Lennox cost 10x of Pied./Sweet Cap ?
Or does distribution start to be a factor over price ?

Am I just rehashing things ?



Scott

Roll my own:
Buglar/Topps - $4/pouch *
Drum/Bagi Shag - $8/pouch
American Spirit - $12/pouch





* Personally would rather smoke shredded newspaper for free

[martyogelvie]

All that arithmetic made my brain cramp...

[Leon]

I don't have a lot of pricing information but I think back in the day most cigarettes were priced fairly close to each other..... 4 for .10, I think there were 5 for .10, and then packs of 20 for a few different prices...here are a few ancillary items with prices on them....if we can decipher what they say? The Kimballs letter is a complaint .

[oaks1912]

Obaks were a nickel for ten cigarettes retail, circa 1910

[Jay Wolt]

Turkey Reds were a dime a pack

[canjond]

Mono were a nickel (10 cigs for 5 cents).

[smokelessjoe]

The Drums are from 1897...

[canjond]

Hindu's were also 5 centa. I do believe most brands were 5 cents except for the higher end ones - usually Turkish cigarettes. For example, Ramly was ten cents.