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

[Jlighter]

This is some interesting information. What became of these brands?

[Blitzu]

Ahh, but when the ATC owned LM they also put their names on the piedmont boxes. Only until after LM was formed did the piedmont box bear the LM name. So basically the piedmont boxes with ATC are from the T206 era and the LM boxes were from after.

This is the ATC box...

[Blitzu]

This was the LM non-T206 box

No one I think is disputing that LM didn't exist, but it's name wasn't put on these boxes till after the company was split up.

[White Borders]

Something I just came across to answer my question about Continental and Consolidated:

"1904: Duke forms the American Tobacco Co. (ATC) by the merger of 2 subsidiaries, Consolidated and American & Continental. The only form of tobacco Duke does not control is cigars--the form with the most prestige."

Tobacco Timeline Relevant to Durham, North Carolina

[canjond]

Craig-

Some of the confusion probably comes from my use of the word "acquired". It is my understanding from factory records that Piedmont (as well as other brands that were owned by the ATC prior to the trust dissolution) were distributed in cigarette packs bearing the American Tobacco Company designation. It was only after the trust was split up and certain manufactures re-emerged that cigarette boxes would start to bear different manufacturer marks, such as L&M. Accordingly, I don't believe there are any Piedmont cigarette boxes prior to the year 1912 that would bear an L&M name. Additionally, there is undoubtedly Piedmont cigarette boxes post-1912 that still bear the ATC designation as inventory was used-up before being reprinted with new designations.

One other interesting thing to note with the "Directory of Cigarette Brands, 1864-1988" information posted. As it relates to Piedmont, I believe the date 1905 relates to the start of the brand. I also believe the Liggett & Myers designation relates to who controlled the brand post- break-up of the ATC (I could be incorrect, but I was unable to find page vi to verify (not sure if you have access to it)).

In other words, I'm not sure it's technically correct to say that in 1905, Piedmont was created with the manufacturer being L&M. I actually believe Piedmont was created in 1905 with the manufacturer being the ATC. In fact, I actually believe that L&M and other various brands acquired by the ATC sat dormant, without every producing a product in the intervening years, until the trust was split. At that point, certain brands had the opportunity to be "reborn"... L&M being one of those brands.

Lastly, for reference is a Piedmont pack (with complete tax stamp) bearing the ATC designation on the box.