Pierre Lorillard & Company history

One of the first American tobacco producers, the company was founded by Pierre Lorillard (1742–76). Born in France, Lorillard immigrated to the United States and established an operation for curing tobacco on Chatham Street in New York City in 1760. Tobacco had been an important and sought-after crop since the time of Columbus and attracted many Europeans because of its popularity. Lorillard sold pipe tobacco and snuff from the New York location and soon prospered because Americans were fond of his various tobacco blends, all using Virginia tobacco as their base.

After his untimely death during the Revolutionary War, the business was carried on by his sons Peter and George. They soon began to advertise their product in New York newspapers, featuring an Indian smoking a pipe. The ads became the basis for the cigar store Indian that would later stand outside many tobacconist shops around the country. In 1792, the manufacturing operation was moved from lower Manhattan to the Bronx, and mail-order sales were begun in the early 1830s. Lorillard diversified its tobacco products and included chewing in addition to smoking tobacco. The Beech-Nut brand of chewing tobacco in particular became extremely popular, and its advertising was found on many barns and stores around rural America. The name Lorillard was one of the first to become identified with the powers of marketing.

The Lorillards also employed incentives for consumers to use their products, including mailin coupons for clothing and household items. They also began producing cigarettes in addition to pipe tobacco. In the early 1900s, the company became part of the “tobacco trust,” better known as the AMERICAN TOBACCO CO. headed by James B. DUKE. After the breakup of the company ordered by the Supreme Court in 1911—one of the classic ANTITRUST cases—the company reverted to being an independent as P. Lorillard & Co.

The Lorillard family became well known as socialites and developers of real estate. Pierre Lorillard IV helped develop Newport, Rhode Island, into a resort for the rich and also helped turn his estate outside New York into Tuxedo Park, a sporting and residential club catering to the wealthy.

Further reading

• Gruber, Lewis. Lorillard and Tobacco: The 200th Anniversary of P. Lorillard & Co., 1760–1960. New York: privately published, 1960. 
• Heiman, Robert. Tobacco and Americans. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1960. 
• Robert, Joseph. The Story of Tobacco in America. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1949.