BROTHERHOOD TOBACCO’S AD CAMPAIGN HELPED BRIDGE CLASS WARFARE!
One of my favorite advertising pieces from the early 1900s comes from The Brotherhood Tobacco brand. What I like about this advertisement is the brand clearly tried to demonstrate a point that no matter what your class or background was, their tobacco brand would be “The Tie that Binds” different socioeconomic classes together.
This particular print features an early locomotive train with both a blue collar railroad worker on one side, and a debonair well dressed wealthy man on the side of the train. The logo just above the scene says “All For One, One For All”. In the background you can see a ship too assuming this further demonstrated wherever you were, all classes of people could benefit from the Brotherhood brand.
The Brotherhood Tobacco brand was sold by the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company which was based in New York City and Jersey City, N.J. from 1835-1916. Their main plant was at 111 First Street in Jersey City until it was demolished in 2007, in order to make room for high rise condominiums. In it’s heyday, the Lorillard plant represented Jersey City’s industrial base perhaps better than any other local company. The company was the largest seller of tobacco products in the late 1800’s, and they sold snuff, chewing, smoking and plug tobacco products. At one point, the company sold over 160 different brands of tobacco products.
