Big Tobacco in the Big Apple
How New York City Became the Heart of the Tobacco Industry
…and Anti Smoking Activism
P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
From Snuff to Dancing Cigarettes (00:52)
The P. Lorillard Tobacco Company is the nation’s oldest continuous manufacturer of tobacco products. It began in a snuff mill on land that is now part of the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Pierre Lorillard is said to have been New York’s first millionaire. By the 20th century Old Gold cigarettes, Lorillard’s flagship brand, was a leading sponsor of radio and a major advertiser in magazines and newspapers. Old Gold’s popularity peaked in the early-1950s with the advent of television and such Lorillard-sponsored programs as “Chance of a Lifetime.” Old Gold’s slogan, “For a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT…” was Lorillard’s way of downplaying reports in medical journals beginning in the late-1940s that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer.
Lorillards Magazine
Debuting in 1914, Lorillards Magazine was an illustrated periodical featuring humorous stories and advertisements for P. Lorillard Tobacco Company products.
Circa 1918
“Climax and other Popular Brands of Red Tin Plug Tobacco”
Trading card advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
1895
“Presenting Charlie Chaplin in the blindfold cigarette test: Famous star selects Old Golds”
Newspaper advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
1928
“Broadway casts its vote for ‘O.G.'”
Advertisement by the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
The American Rifleman
August, 1929
“The world’s first Tobacco advertisement. True in 1789 …true today”
Advertisement byP. Lorillard Tobacco Company for Union Leader pipe tobacco
LIFE Magazine
Circa 1949
“Double-Mellow: Old Gold’s Puzzle Contest”
Newspaper advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
Circa 1930s
“Old Gold VARIETY SHOW Featuring HERBERT MARSHALL, EVERY MONDAY NIGHT, NBC RADIO NETWORK”
Postmark with advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
December 2, 1941
“We give medical claims the old soft show…But Old Golds always give you a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT”
Harvard University book cover with advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
Circa 1952
Old Gold, Health Claims, and Television:
New York City was the home of the early television age. P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, among other cigarette makers, sponsored many popular programs.
“Dennis James, Old Gold TV ‘salesman,’ Dancing Pack ‘ad lib’ a television commercial”
Photograph from annual report of P. Lorillard Tobacco Co. (verification pending)
1952
“No song and dance about medical claims…Old Gold’s specialty is to give you a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT!”
Advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
LIFE Magazine
1952
“The crowning taste treat of all king size cigarettes”
Video clip of Old Gold in-studio advertisement featuring two performers in cigarette pack costumes
1955
“Herb Shriner says–‘Where I come from, more and more folks say–For a TREAT instead of a TREATMENT smoke Old Golds”
Advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
LIFE Magazine
1953
“AMERICA’S OLDEST TOBACCO COMPANY CELEBRATES ITS 200TH ANNIVERSARY” (20 pages)
Cover of special advertising section by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
The New York Times
Sunday, April 3, 1960
Lorillard and Tobacco 200th Anniversary (34 pages)
Book chronicling the history of the P. Lorillard Company
1960
“Your Voice Of Wisdom Says Smoke Kent”
Advertisement by P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
The Saturday Evening Post
1954
“Old Lorillard Snuff Mill”
Illustration and photograph of the Lorillard Snuff Mill, which still stands in the New York Botanical Garden
Promotional publication of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company
1960
“The Old Lorillard Mill In Bronx Park, N. Y. City, We are proceeding with the conversion of the Mill into a public restaurant and a meeting place for civic, fraternal and similar organizations.”
Lorillards Magazine
1910
“Tobacco: Use, Abuse, Substitutes, Marketing and Clinical Effects”
Program for a scheduled conference on tobacco (one a series of annual conferences each devoted to an individual plant) to be held at the New York Botanical Garden on June 14, 1981. The conference was canceled within days of the event. One of the invited speakers, Alan Blum, MD, sought unsuccessfully to learn why it had been canceled. P. Lorillard Tobacco Company (acquired by Loews in 1968) was a longstanding major donor to the New York Botanical Garden. (Listen to the audio recording about this story.)
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