Garrett snuffs trace back to the efforts of John Garrett who built several mills (grist, lumber, and snuff) on the banks of Red Clay Creek near Yorklyn, Delaware in 1726. His son, Levi Garrett, inherited the snuff mill (the only one that made money). Levi is referred to as a tobacconist with offices in Philadelphia (if you look on the Levi Garrett chewing tobacco pouch you will see his store). Levi had two sons, Willams Evans Garrett and George Howell Garrett. The snuff business was renamed Levi Garrett and Sons, from where the name of the rappee snuff derives. W.E. stuck with the snuff, but George split. W.E. changed the name of the company to Willam E. Garrett Company, from whence the name of the Scotch and Sweet Snuff brand name derives. In 1857, with the maturation of his sons, the name is changed to William E. Garrett and Sons. The W.E. Garrett and Sons Scotch Snuff is trademarked in 1870, being one of the first ten tradmarks in US history, number 7, and the oldest trademark still in use in the US. After the death of Willam E. Garrett and William Garrett Jr., the remaining brother Walter sold the snuff mill to three of his employees for one dollar. That was the end of the Garrett name in ownership. James “Buck” Duke bought up every tobacco producer in the US in the late 1800’s, including the Garrett snuff brands, as the American Tobacco Company. His monopoly was busted up by Teddy Roosevelt in 1907, and the snuff side became American Snuff Company. The other companies were George W. Helme, and the United States Tobacco Company, which nowadays produces Skoal, Copenhagen, and related products. The American Snuff Company moved to Memphis in 1912. After buying up some small producers in North Carolina, the company changed names to Conwood Company ,L.P., to reflect the new diversity in 1966. In 1975 Levi Garrett chewing tobacco was introduced as a tribute to the founder of American tobacco production.
I enjoyed reading that, it is interesting how the present big U.S. smokeless companies were derived from John Garrett almost 300 years ago.
Just to add to that, Conwood returned to the name American Snuff Company in 2009 or 2010. (Check their website for the exact date.) Also of interest is that the original Garrett mill in Delaware passed to Helme after the breakup rather than staying with ASC. It was still producing snuff until the 1950s. of course Helme’s main mill was Helmetta, NJ, also now derelict and partially demolished. Helme being bought out by Swisher I think in the 1980s, though they still retain the name on the snuff.
I’ve posted these photos before but here are some pics of the site of the Garrett mill in Yorklyn, Delaware. The buildings are in varying states of disrepair, and some predate others (the stone one for instance). Most of the existing buildings are second and third generation (meaning the originals were torn down replaced, torn down again, replaced again or added to the complex at later dates). The third photo appears to be where the mill race cut through the land and the building before returning to the river. Its all filled in now. At the time of the vist, some buildings had been partially restored and were in use by a construction company for office space and storage of equipment.
I have pictures of the mill in the 50’s when Helme snuff was being produced at the Garrett Mill. They are also available at the Library of Congress. Sometime over this long weekend I will dig them out.
@basement_shaman Cool read my friend
I found this cool timeline http://www.americansnuff.com/Timeline.aspx
how long does it take to load? The lady on their homepage shows up right away. This timeline says loading loading loading damn it.
oh you just have to complain on snuffhouse then it finally loads.
great read! Makes me want to go chew on a twig
This is a really nice morning coffee read! Learning a whole lot here…
Very informative, thanks for the link @MattheFox