History records that tobacco was used by the American Indians in each of 

 the three ways in which it is used today, and changes in usage through the 

 years relate to the comparative popularity of these three forms. While con- 

 sumer habits are not subject to sudden change, in the long-time sense there 

 have been marked shifts in forms of use. The general direction has been from 

 "strong" tobacco to "mild," from cigars to cigarettes, from chewing to pipe 

 smoking, and from dark heavy-bodied types to lighter types. Changes in pat- 

 terns of consumption usually entail shifts in the types of tobacco used in 

 manufacture, and consequently shifts In the production of those types. 



The Cigarette Industry 



The cigarette industry is by far the most important part of tobacco manu- 

 facturing, both in use of the leaf and in volume of sales. Its extraordinary 

 development during the present century presents one of the most phenomenal as- 

 pects of tobacco history. This has been due to two principal factors — the 

 perfection of the modern highly efficient cigarette making machine and the 

 development of the blended type of cigarette. The manufacturing of cigarettes 

 is so highly automated that the cost of producing a pack of cigarettes (ex- 

 cluding tobacco material) is estimated at about 2 to 3 cents per pack. 



The industry has always been dominated by a few concerns. Today, 99 per- 

 cent of the cigarettes manufactured in the United States are produced by six 

 companies. The manufacture of cigarettes had its beginning in this country —' 

 in 1872, when the first cigarette machine was invented, and by 1890 annual 

 production had reached 2-1/2 billion. In these earlier years, cigarettes were 

 made almost entirely of one kind of tobacco — flue-cured, burley, or Oriental, 

 but in 1913 the blended cigarette of American and Oriental tobaccos appeared 

 on the market, and became immediately popular with consumers. Flue-cured and 

 burley are the principal tobaccos used in making cigarettes. Most of the 

 Maryland tobacco consumed in this country goes into blends, along with im- 

 ported "Turkish" or Oriental tobaccos. 



The following figures show approximate percentages and amounts of these 

 kinds of leaf used in American cigarettes, as a whole (fiscal year 1971-72): 





Percentages 

 contained in blends 



Leaf used 

 Million pounds 



Type 



Percent 



Farm weight 



Flue-cured 

 Burley 

 Maryland 

 Imported leaf 



47.3 



34.8 



1.5 



16.4 



618 



455 



20 



215 



100.0 1,308 



1/ Cigarettes in their first primitive form are said to have been introduced 

 by the Turks around 1855; but at that time, although they were paper-wrapped, 

 they were known as "cigars." 



46 



