Macdonald Tobacco
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(December 2018) |
 | |
| Industry | Tobacco |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1858 |
| Founders | William Christopher Macdonald Augustine Macdonald |
| Defunct | ? |
| Fate | Bought out |
| Successor | Japan Tobacco International |
| Headquarters | , Canada |
Number of employees | 500 (early 1870s) |
TheMacdonald Tobacco Company(initially calledMcDonald Brothers and Co.), founded in 1858 byWilliam Christopher Macdonaldand his brother Augustine, converted tobacco leaf from southern U.S. suppliers to pipe and chewing tobacco in Montreal.[1]After several acquisitions, it is now known asJapan Tobacco International (JTI),[2]which manages flagship brands such asBenson & Hedges,Camel,Glamour,LD,Mevius,Natural American Spirit,Silk Cut,Sobranie,andWinston.
History[edit]
The Macdonald Tobacco Company was founded in 1858 byWilliam Christopher Macdonaldand his brother Augustine. While the use of tobacco products was growing in popularity, theAmerican Civil Warafforded the fledgling company an opportunity that brought enormous financial success leading to Macdonald Brothers, emerging the preeminent tobacco company in the field in Canada.[3]Since the northern U.S. faced a tobacco shortage due to the Civil War conflict (tobacco growers were located in the south), MacDonald Tobacco, a Canadian company, bought tobacco leaf from theSouthern United Statesand transported it via ocean cargo vessels to Montreal. MacDonald Tobacco further processed it into a finished product, then selling to the northern U.S. tobacco-starved market.
By the early 1870s, the company acquired over 500 employees. During this period, William Macdonald bought out his brother's stock position.
Deeply proud of hisScottishheritage, William C. Macdonald imprinted a ScottishLasson the product packaging for nearly a century. Macdonald actually disliked tobacco, and upon his death in 1917, he bequeathed his company to Walter and Howard Stewart, the two sons of company manager David Stewart. Walter Stewart, now president, replacedpipetobacco with "roll your own" cigarettes. In 1922, packaged cigarette production was added, quickly becoming the mainstay of the business. During the 1960s, David M. Stewart (1920–1984), expanded the business into the manufacturing ofcigars.
The Macdonald Tobacco company remained in the Stewart family until 1974 when David M. Stewart sold it to the American tobacco giantR.J. Reynolds Tobacco Companywho, in light of the uncertainty created by theQuebec sovereignty movement,relocated the head office toToronto, Ontario.Most of those assets were later purchased byJapan Tobacco.
References[edit]
- ^"Antique Advertising | Canadian Tobacco Tins Part 3: MacDonald Tobacco Company • Antique Advertising".antiqueadvertising.24 April 2016.Retrieved2018-11-28.
- ^"About us".Japan Tobacco International – a global tobacco company.Retrieved2018-11-28.
- ^Fong, William Jesse (2007).Sir William C. Macdonald a biography.Published for the Macdonald-Stewart Foundation by McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN9780773560437.OCLC762967508.