INDUSTRIES 



TOBACCO 



Tobacco is said to have been introduced 

 into this country in 1586 ; it was placed 

 under a duty of id. a pound in Elizabeth's 

 reign. The duty on Virginian tobacco was 

 raised to 6s. iod. by James I. Under this 

 sovereign the industry became a monopoly, 

 and the Virginia planters were limited to an 

 export of 100 Ib. a year. Tobacco is said to 

 have been first smoked at the ' Pied Bull ' at 

 Islington, and the number of tobacconists' 

 shops in London in 1614 is estimated by 

 Barnaby Rich as over 7,ooo. 1 In the MS. 

 notes left by Sir Henry Oglander of Nunwell 

 in the Isle of Wight he records among other 

 expenses in the year 1626, ' for eight ounces 

 of tobacco five shillings ' ; this was procured 

 for him in London. Tobacco was also sold by 

 apothecaries,* and prescribed as a drug ; it 

 came into very general use for this purpose 

 during the time of the Great Plague. 



What we call smoking was then termed 

 ' drinking ' tobacco, the smoke being inhaled 

 and allowed to escape through the nose. An 

 anonymous writer in 1636, speaking of dis- 

 solute persons who spend most of their time 

 at taverns, says : 3 ' Men will not stand upon 

 it to drink either wine or tobacco with them 

 who are more fit for Bridewell.' 



The signs of tobacconists' shops in the i8th 

 century generally consisted of a large wooden 

 figure of a black Indian, wearing a crown of 

 tobacco leaves and a kilt of the same material. 

 He was usually placed at the side of the door, 

 above which hung three rolls, also cut in 

 wood. The decorated cards or shop-bills of 

 tradesmen at this period were often designed 

 by artists of repute. Hogarth in his early 

 days designed one for ' Richard Lee at ye 

 Golden Tobacco-Roll in Panton Street near 

 Leicester Fields,' which much resembles his 

 Modern Midnight Conversation. Another 

 curious tobacconist's sign consists of three 

 hands issuing from an arm ; the first holding 

 snuff, the second a pipe, and the third a quid 

 of tobacco ; attached to this are the lines : 



We three are engaged in one cause ; 

 I snuffs, I smokes, and I chaws. 



This distich is sometimes found on painted 

 signs, beneath figures of a Scotchman, a 

 Dutchman, and a sailor. 



The manufacture of tobacco is carried on 



' The Hones tie of this Age, 26. 



' Dekker, Gull's Horn-book. Quoted by F. W. 

 Fairholt. Tobacco,its History, &c. (1859), 49, 56. 



3 Vox civitatis, or London's Complaint against her 

 Children In the Country (1636). 



very largely in East London and Hackney, 

 which contain seventy-six factories for the 

 production of tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, and 

 snuff. In all London there are about one 

 hundred and eighty factories in this trade, and 

 in the whole of England, the metropolis in- 

 cluded, there are about four hundred and thirty, 

 so that in the number of its tobacco factories 

 East London occupies a conspicuous position. 

 The cigars produced in English factories are 

 known as British cigars, and vary considerably 

 in price and quality. Those made by the 

 best firms are infinitely superior to some of 

 the lower grades of imported Havanas. The 

 importation of sham Havanas from Belgium 

 and other countries has been checked by the 

 ' Merchandise Marks Act,' but the British 

 manufacturer suffers severely from the com- 

 petition of cheap Mexican cigars. 



The process of manufacture begins with 

 ' liquoring,' in which the leaf is treated with 

 pure water to render it soft and pliant for the 

 hands of the 'stripper.' The process of 'strip- 

 ping' consists in stripping the leaf by taking 

 out its midrib. The leaf when stripped is 

 handed to the 'cigar-maker,' and in this branch 

 of the trade many female hands are employed. 4 



Tobacco as distinct from cigars is also 

 largely manufactured in East London, but 

 fewer hands are employed in its preparation 

 by reason of the extensive use of machinery. 

 After undergoing the process of ' liquoring ' 

 and ' stripping,' the leaf is, in the case of cut 

 tobacco, handed over to the machine-men. 

 It is next passed on to the ' stovers,' who first 

 place it on a steam-pan to separate the 

 fibres, and then on a fire-pan to make it fit for 

 keeping and to improve its smoking quality. 

 The final process is that of ' cooling,' where a 

 current of cold air is passed through it to drive 

 off the moisture. By other processes are 

 produced the varieties known as ' roll ' or 

 ' spun ' tobacco, and ' cake ' or ' plug.' 



The manufacture of snuff involves various 

 complicated processes, which space will not per- 

 mit us to describe. The ingredients consist 

 largely of the shreds, stalks, and other leavings 

 resulting from the processes above mentioned. 



Some thirty years ago the London tobacco 

 manufacturers comprised, it is estimated, about 

 one-fourth of the whole of the manufacturers 

 in England. Some old firms still exist, as that 

 of Richard Lloyd & Sons, of Clerkenwell 

 Road, which has been in existence for over 

 two centuries. 



4 Booth, Life and Labour of the People in London 

 (1902), (Ser. i), iv, 225. 



179 



