Abstract:
Between 1878 and 1890, the W. Duke, Sons and Company became the de facto controller of cigarette manufacturing in the United States. Through the leadership of James Buchanan Duke, the company aggressively utilized sales promotions and attractive advertising, while also controlling the cigarette rolling machines, first patented in the late 1870s and 1880s. In 1890, Duke also convinced his four major competitors to join him in forming the American Tobacco Company, which was subsequently labeled 'tobacco trust.'