This postcard is from the R. J. Reynolds Plant (approximately 50+ years ago). One woman is operating a machine used in manufacturing cigarettes, while another women is giving a factory tour. The back of the postcard has the following description:
North Carolina is the nation's largest producer of cigarettes and the R. J. Reynolds Plant in Winston-Salem is the largest in the world. Visitors are always welcome for free guided tours.Here is some more current information about R. J. Reynolds from Wikipedia:
The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR), based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, is the second-largest tobacco company in the U.S. (behind Altria Group). RJR is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc. which in turn is 42% owned by British American Tobacco of the United Kingdom.And here are some historical tidbits from the R.J. Reynolds website:
R. J. Reynolds brands include Camel, Kool, Winston, Salem, Doral, Eclipse,and Pall Mall. Brands still manufactured but no longer receiving significant marketing support include Barclay, Belair, Capri, Carlton, GPC, Lucky Strike, Misty, Monarch, More, Now, Tareyton, Vantage, and Viceroy. The company also manufactures certain private-label brands. Five of the company's brands are among the top ten best selling cigarette brands in the United States, and it is estimated that one in three cigarettes sold in the country were manufactured by R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. In 2010 R. J. Reynolds acquired the rights to the smokeless tobacco products Kodiak and Grizzly dip.
- In 1913, Reynolds Tobacco introduced Camel cigarettes, containing a blend of several different types of tobacco – a blend that would come to be called “the American blend.” Camel became the first nationally popular cigarette in the United States.
- Reynolds Tobacco established virtually every packaging standard in the U.S. cigarette industry. The 20-cigarette pack was introduced by Reynolds Tobacco in 1913, and in 1915 the company introduced the one-piece, 10-pack carton. In 1931, Reynolds Tobacco became the first company to package its cigarettes with a moisture-proof, sealed cellophane outerwrap to preserve freshness.
- Reynolds Tobacco began diversifying into foods and other non-tobacco businesses in the 1960s.
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The Irony Is That These Days You Are Probably Not Allowed To Smoke inside The Factory (on "Health&Safety " grounds...)
ReplyDeleteHow attitudes have changed, including mine
ReplyDeleteNicely matched to the theme picture. I grew up in Nottingham, U.K. where John Players, one of the biggest cigarette manufactureres had its factory. My parents had several friends who worked there.
ReplyDeleteI seem to recall going in a tour around a cigarette factory in Liverpool when I was a child. Such tours were seen as important days out and people would look at the vast scale of the undertaking in awe.
ReplyDeleteI've never made it to a cigarette factory but H&S would have a fit today if they saw a factory operating like that in this historic postcard.
ReplyDeleteCamels were my dad's cigarettes of choice for many years. Tobacco is still a big crop in Virginia.
ReplyDeleteI liked the occasional Camel, but they were too strong for regular use.
ReplyDeleteI wonder really and truly what the laws for smoking are in cigarette companies of today! Nice postcard too!
ReplyDeleteHere in Australia smoking has become tabu. Smokers are banned from all public places,buses, shopping centres, also from the beach I have never been a smoker, I am glad about it, cigarette smoke in a Restaurant was always very annoying.
ReplyDeleteThe Reynolds company is right down the road from me. Perhaps I'll stop in to see how they make a new product I found on their website - Camel Snus, "a modern, smoke-free tobacco product that does not require spitting." Comes in a small, convenient pouch. No box. Yumm.
ReplyDeleteAt least the worker in your postcard gets to sit down to work. The lady in the theme photo probably stood up all day.
ReplyDeleteSmoking is banned in public places in the BVI, but the authorities aren't really as strict about it, as perhaps they should be.
ReplyDeleteI love the glimpse into the past that a postcard like this provides.
ReplyDeleteGreat postcard! I wonder if they still give tours.
ReplyDeleteFabulous postcard - times sure have changed!
ReplyDeleteThey all look so clean and neat!
ReplyDeleteLots of uncovered machinery there to fit the dangerous theme, not to mention the cigarettes:-)
ReplyDeleteAt first glance I thought the male visitor was Prince Charles. I also wondered if smoking was allowed inside a cigarette factory.
ReplyDeleteGuilty of smoking Camel and Winston, in my youth, after smoking Gitanes for years, much to the displeasure of my fellow classmates...
ReplyDeleteA great postcard, very typical of that era.
:)~
HUGZ