Tobacco Consumption

The principal effect of the War period upon the tobacco business has been the increased sales of cigarettes as compared with cigars. Under growing use of cigarettes by soldiers and their increasing popularity among women, consumption mounted in an astonishing manner. On the other hand, the cigar business could no longer sell its products as cheaply as before the War, and its turnover and profits remained stationary or else declined. In recent months, pipe-smoking has been coming in again, and consequently manufactured tobacco is on the gain. One feature of the tobacco industry sometimes overlooked is the snuff business, which is also gaining in popularity. Little snuff is now inhaled through the nostrils in the old-fashioned way; instead its users, especially male and female mill-hands, rub it on their gums.

The statistics of tobacco production in this country for last February bore out the above general tendencies of the trade. Production of cigarettes for that month was 4,855 million compared with 4,624 million from February, 1923, and 3,126 million over February, 1922. Cigar production, which had increased from 447 million in the second month of 1922 to 507 million in the same month of 1923, declined last February to 498 million. February in the past three years, found manufactured tobacco declined from 29,215,513 pounds in 1922 to 29,083,145 pounds last year, mounted to 31,218,840 pounds this year. Snuff has increased steadily from 3,240,117 pounds in February, 1922, to 3,528,224 pounds in 1923, and to 4,133,832 this year.