American Tobacco Emblem Series(50)

美國煙草公司徽章系列（50）

Item number: C107 (1－50)

Year: AD 1911

Size: 47.70 x 66.92 mm

Provenance: Private Collector in the UK 2023

The history of the American Tobacco Company can be traced back to the post-Civil War period in North Carolina when Washington Duke, a Confederate veteran, initiated the tobacco trade. In 1874, Washington Duke, along with his sons Benjamin N. Duke and James Buchanan Duke, constructed a factory and established the firm W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1878. This marked the emergence of one of the pioneering tobacco companies introducing cigarette-manufacturing machines.

Participating in the “cigarette war,” the Dukes eventually founded the American Tobacco Company in 1890, with James assuming the role of president. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the Duke brothers gained corporate control over virtually the entire American tobacco industry, encompassing approximately 150 factories. However, in 1911, following five years of litigation, a U.S. Court of Appeals deemed this tobacco trust in violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and mandated its dissolution. Besides American Tobacco, other major manufacturers that emerged included R.J. Reynolds, Liggett & Myers, and Lorillard.

In 1916, American Tobacco introduced its immensely popular cigarette brand, Lucky Strike, and in 1939, it launched one of the first king-size cigarettes, Pall Mall (a revived name for a new cigarette). The success of these two brands established American Tobacco as the leading cigarette manufacturer in the 1940s. Nevertheless, the company struggled to establish equally formidable brands of filter cigarettes in the 1950s, and by the 1970s, it had receded to a minor position among U.S. tobacco makers. Undergoing further diversification and dilution in the later decades of the 20th century, the company, renamed American Brands in 1969, assumed a different identity and formally departed from the tobacco industry by the end of the century, becoming known as Fortune Brands.

The origins of cigarette and trade cards can be traced back to the eighteenth century when it became customary for tradesmen to produce cards containing their business details, often featuring a logo or pictorial representation of their work. During the twentieth century, the development of recognizable national brands and advancements in color printing technology led to a rapid increase in the production of trade cards, making them a popular promotional tool in Europe and North America.

In 1890, Duke’s company played a pivotal role in the formation of the American Tobacco Company, a consolidation of the five largest tobacco firms, including Duke’s own, Allen & Ginter, Goodwin & Company, W.S. Kimball & Company, and Kinney Tobacco. By 1901, the American Tobacco Company had absorbed the business of 250 firms, some of which continued to trade in name only but under the auspices of the American Tobacco Company. Many sets of cards were issued multiple times under different company names but under the umbrella of the American Tobacco Company.

Cigarettes were initially sold in flimsy paper wrapping, susceptible to damage before consumption. To address this, a thicker piece of card was inserted to stiffen them. James Buchanan Duke, who succeeded his father in leading the American Tobacco Company, decided to include colorful advertisements on these card stiffeners. The first known dateable cigarette card appeared in 1879, featuring the Marquis of Lorne, Queen Victoria’s son-in-law.

The cards had to meet a certain quality standard, both in terms of the card itself and the design, to entice consumers to complete the set. Manufacturers soon realized that the card’s appeal could be further enhanced by reducing the size of the company logo on the back and providing a brief description of the subject of the illustration.

Before World War I, newspapers lacked photographs, making trade cards a window to the wider world for millions of individuals. These cards conveyed knowledge and information on a broad range of subjects to millions of people during an era when the school leaving age was only 12, and levels of literacy and general knowledge were considerably lower than today. The cards served not only as enduring forms of advertising for the makers but also as treasure troves of knowledge for those without access to higher education. The enthusiasm with which the cards were collected made them an integral part of people’s lives.

This card set, issued in 1911, comprises a series of 50 cards highlight orders around the world. The obverse side features an illustration of the specific order, while the reverse side includes a composite description in the upper part and ‘EMBLEM CIGARETTES SYMBOL OF QUALITY, FACTORY NO. 649-1ST DIST. STATE OF NEW YORK’ at the bottom. Among them, the majority of the cards showcase emblems belonging to American fraternal organizations, including the Freemasons, and others.

物件編號: C107 (1－50)

年代: 公元 1911 年

尺寸: 47.70 x 66.92 mm

來源: 英國私人收藏 2023

美國煙草公司的歷史可以追溯到南北戰爭後期的北卡羅來納，當時一位南軍老兵華盛頓·杜克（Washington Duke）開始了煙草貿易。 1874年，華盛頓·杜克與兒子本傑明·N·杜克（Benjamin N. Duke）和詹姆斯·布坎南·杜克（James Buchanan Duke）建造了一座工廠，並於1878年創立了W. Duke, Sons & Co.公司。這標誌著一家引進香煙製造機的開創性煙草公司的崛起。

杜克家族最終於1890年創立了美國煙草公司，詹姆斯擔任總裁。通過一系列的合併和收購，杜克兄弟實際上掌握了整個美國煙草業的企業控制，包括約150家工廠。其他主要的製造商還包括R.J. 雷諾茲（R.J. Reynolds）、利格特與邁爾斯（Liggett & Myers）和羅羅德（Lorillard）。到1901年，美國煙草公司已吸收了250家公司的業務，其中一些公司繼續以自己的名義交易，但已被美國煙草公司收購。許多系列的卡片多次以不同的公司名稱發行，但仍然屬於美國煙草公司。然而，在1911年，經過五年的訴訟，美國上訴法院認定這個煙草信託違反謝爾曼反托拉斯法，並命令其解散。

在1916年，美國煙草公司推出了其極受歡迎的香煙品牌Lucky Strike，並於1939年推出了其中一種最早的特大香煙Pall Mall。這兩個品牌的成功確立了美國煙草公司作為1940年代領先的香煙製造商。然而，該公司在1950年代努力建立同樣強大的濾嘴香煙品牌，到了1970年代，它已經在美國煙草製造商中陷入次要地位。在20世紀後期的進一步多元化和稀釋中，該公司於1969年更名為美國品牌，採用了不同的身份，並在世紀末正式退出了煙草業，更名為財富品牌。

香煙和交換卡的起源可以追溯到18世紀，當時行業工匠經常製作包含業務詳情的卡片，通常還有公司標誌或工作的圖像。在20世紀期間，高辯識度的國家品牌的發展和彩色印刷技術的進步導致了交換卡的生產急劇增加，使其成為歐洲和北美的一種流行促銷工具。

香煙最初以脆弱的紙包裝售賣，容易在抽煙之前損壞。為了解決這個問題，插入了一張較厚的卡片來加固它們。詹姆斯·布坎南·杜克接任父親領導美國煙草公司後，決定在這些厚卡片上加入色彩豐富的廣告。已知的第一張可確定日期的香煙卡於1879年出現，卡面是維多利亞女王的女婿，Lorne侯爵。這些卡片必須符合一定的質量標準，包括卡片本身和設計，以吸引消費者完成整套。製造商很快意識到，通過縮小卡片背面公司標誌的尺寸，並提供插圖主題的簡要描述，可以進一步提高卡片的吸引力。

在第一次世界大戰之前，報紙缺乏照片，使得交換卡成為數百萬人打開通向更廣泛世界的窗戶。在一個時代，學校離校年齡僅為12歲，識字率和常識水平遠低於今天，這些卡片向數百萬人傳遞了各種主題的知識和信息。這些卡片不僅作為製造商持久廣告形式，還作為沒有接受高等教育的人的知識寶庫。人們對這些卡片的熱情使它們成為人們生活的一部分。

這套卡片包括一系列50張聚焦於全球徽章和勳章的卡片，發行於1911年。正面展示了具體勳章的插圖。其中，大部的卡片展示的徽章屬於美國的兄弟會，包括共濟會等。在背面，上半部分是對勳章的描述，底部是“EMBLEM CIGARETTES SYMBOL OF QUALITY, FACTORY NO. 649-1ST DIST. STATE OF NEW YORK”（EMBLEM香煙，品質的象徵，工廠編號649-紐約州第一區）。

更多相關訊息請參考:

John Broom, A HISTORY OF cigarette AND TradeCards(UK:Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 2018)

Britannica.American Tobacco Company

www.britannica.com/topic/American-Tobacco-Company