Tobacco Documents Online

FOR: THE TOBACCO IIVSTITUTE, INC. FOR RELEASE IN AM'S OF MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1960 -. , ~ :.,. 5 .. ~ ., - ~ .. . . ..a _. .. -~•. .. - VIRGINIA CALLED BIRTHPLACE OF'COUNTRY"S OLDEST COMMERCE IN TOBACCO INSTITU'PE'BOOKLET life of , Washington -- Anexperimental tobacco crop grown on the tiny farm of John Rolfe at Jamestown in 1612 started America's first great industry and~~'».~ T ., ., . ,.- . .. ` . . •• , . -- .; .r~. saved the colony of Virginia from failure. . . , , .„ _. ._.. .. _.,.. . . _ .. • • h~x~x, new booklet 7 :The growth of the commerce in tobacco in Virginia and the effects of , . .~ , the industry on the economic, social, legislative and'religious <' ,- Virginia as a colony and~as a state is entertainingly told in a published today by The Tobacco Institute, Inc. Today, tobacco is Virginia's chief cash crop and is first in value of , ~ . ;: . ... products manufactured in the state. Farmers received about $87 million for .their 1959 crops of tobacco. The latest report shows that tobacco goods The booklet is available from The Tobacco Institute, Inc., 910 1003543581 Seventeenth~Street, N.W., Washington 6, D.C. produced in Virginia exceeded $1.1 billion in value, a figure that includes the federal excise on such commodities. Over 110 billion cigarettes were manuTactured.in the state in 1959. More than 30,000 outlets in retail stores, vending machines, clubs, canteens, etc., last year disposed of over $109.5 million worth of tobacco goods. Of this total, cigarettes alone represented $91,775,000. The largest quantity of cigarettes exported from the States are of Virginia manufacture. How the initial pls.ntings of tobacco in Virginia assured'England's foothold'in America, how the leaf took the place of currency in the colony, how it became the basis of a lawsuit that brought fame to Patrick Henry and aroused rebellion against royal interference in Virginia's affairs, how tobacco underwrote the credit of the Continental Congress, how it inspired the first "spectaculars" in advertising, and other associated subjects of unusual interest are told in popular style in Virginia & Tobacco.