in 1918 they produced 62,400,000 pounds of tobacco 

 which sold for $13,728,000. Following a trend, in 1923 

 farmers organized a cooperative, the Northern Wiscon- 

 sin Tobacco Pool. In its first year this organization con- 

 trolled close to 75 percent of the state's tobacco farms. 

 During the Second World War cigar-leaf production 

 dropped because of a decline in cigar consumption and 

 in chewing. Yet the 1945 crop of over 36 million pounds 

 brought more than $15 million to tobacco farmers. 



R 



oilers and collectors 



Tobacco factories, centered in Milwaukee, were pro- 

 viding large-scale employment by the third quarter of 

 the 19th century. The census report of 1880 showed that 

 152 factories produced cigars valued at $1,346,925. The 

 output of chewing and smoking tobacco and snuff, by 

 three factories in Milwaukee, was valued at $978,281. 



Cigars were much in demand, chiefly by Wisconsin's 

 German population, and good rollers were much sought 

 after. Prizes for extra output were frequently offered. 

 One roller, William George Bruce, a native American, 

 related in his memoirs that, while still in his teens in 

 the 1870's, he had won a first prize: "$2.00 and free beer, 

 having rolled up something over 5,000 cigars from Mon- 

 day morning to Saturday noon." A good craftsman, his 

 wages were $18 weekly. 



The Internal Revenue Bureau of the time collected 

 on all tobacco manufacturing and associated operations. 

 The reported total of receipts from Wisconsin manufac- 

 turers, dealers, leaf handlers and others for the year 1880 

 came to $941,764. Included was $758 collected from 



11 



