The Lorillard Tobacco Company was one of the largest early producers of tobacco in the US and today is touted as the oldest as the oldest continuously operating tobacco company in America. Lorillard was founded in 1760 by Pierre Abraham Lorillard and by the late 1800s controlled a large portion of the American tobacco market in chewing and smoking tobacco, at one time owning or promoting over 160 different brands of tobacco with a marketing machine spending the equivalent of millions of dollars every year on advertising and promotions.
With James Duke’s revolution of the industry and machine-rolled cigarettes becoming prevalent, Lorillard merged with Duke’s American Tobacco Company in 1899. When the US government ordered American Tobacco to dissolve, Lorillard emerged back as an independent company with all of its brands.
Lorillard continued to be a powerful company and promoted many more brands after the breakup of American Tobacco Co. It’s most famous brands today are Newport, Kent, Maverick, and Old Gold (which was tremendously popular in the 1920s), but it’s most well known to collectors for tins which range from pocket tins to lunch boxes.
Here is a gallery of some Lorillard tins, it is not nearly exhaustive, but is just a sampling.
