The Tobacco Industry in 19th Century Canada

Early Tobacco Cultivation in Canada

Long before European settlement, Indigenous peoples had been growing and smoking tobacco for over 500 years [citation:9]. By the early 19th century, tobacco was produced commercially along the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers in Quebec and in Essex and Kent counties in Ontario [citation:9]. The sandy soils on the north shore of Lake Erie proved ideal for tobacco cultivation, creating what became known as Canada’s “tobacco belt” [citation:6].

• 🌾 Early growing regions: St. Lawrence Valley (Quebec), Essex and Kent counties (Ontario)
• 🍂 1835: The government began encouraging tobacco production, spurring industry growth [citation:9]
• 📈 1861-1871: Tobacco consumption per capita increased from 1,804 to 1,985 pounds [citation:4]

Montreal: The Cigar Capital of Canada

By the 1880s, Montreal had established itself as Canada’s undisputed cigar capital, producing nearly four times the combined output of its two main rivals, Toronto and Hamilton [citation:5]. The city’s largest manufacturer was S. Davis and Sons, founded by Samuel Davis.

📊 S. Davis and Sons — Industry Giant

• 🏭 1862: Samuel Davis started as a small manufacturer of tobacco products, pioneering in the cigar trade [citation:5]
• 🏅 1867: Won first prize at the universal exposition in Paris [citation:5]
• 🏆 1876: Took first prize for cigars at the Philadelphia Centennial International Exhibition [citation:5]
• 👥 1888: Employed 457 people — the average Montreal cigar factory employed only 74 [citation:5]
• 📈 1894: Average of 600 people a year laboured in Davis’s seven-storey factory [citation:5]

🏭 Other Major Montreal Manufacturers

• Jean-Marie Fortier: Second-largest in Montreal, employing 275 workers in 1888 [citation:5]
• D. Ritchie and Company: Produced “Old Chum” tobacco brand; later absorbed by American Tobacco Company [citation:7]
• Empire Tobacco Co.: Formed in 1893 by John and Edward Archibald; later produced “Old Fox” chewing tobacco [citation:10]

London, Ontario: Second City of Cigar Making

From the late 1870s to the early 1920s, London was second only to Montreal in cigar production. Dozens of cigar factories operated in the city’s downtown, and many of their buildings still stand today [citation:6].

🏭 Notable London Manufacturers

• William Kelly & Sons (1870): London’s first cigar factory, located at 64 Dundas St. at the forks of the Thames [citation:6]
• Brenner Brothers (1880s): Two Jewish brothers who hired Jewish immigrants; produced about 10 million cigars per year by 1912. Their factory was located on Horton Street, near the synagogue [citation:6]
• William Ward: The last of the major London cigar manufacturers, located at 19 King St., closed in 1952 [citation:6]

📊 Why Southwestern Ontario?

• 🌱 Ideal climate and soil: The sandy soils on the north shore of Lake Erie made the region a natural “tobacco belt” [citation:6]
• 🚂 Transportation hub: London’s location on rail lines facilitated distribution across Ontario and beyond

Quebec City: The French-Canadian Tobacco Houses

Quebec City was home to two of Canada’s most important French-Canadian tobacco manufacturers: B. Houde & Co. and Rock City Tobacco Company. These companies played a crucial role in the Canadian tobacco industry and in resisting American takeover.

🏭 B. Houde & Co. (1841)

• Founded by Bartholome Houde in Quebec City in 1841, making it one of Canada’s oldest tobacco companies [citation:2]
• After Houde retired in 1882, his son-in-law François Xavier Dussault took over
• In 1903, Dussault’s sons turned the concern into the limited company B. Houde & Co. Ltée [citation:2]
• By the turn of the century, claimed to be the largest cut-tobacco manufacturer in Canada [citation:8]
• Produced “Carillon” tobacco, which competed with American Tobacco Company’s “Brown Shag” during the “tobacco war” of the late 1890s [citation:8]

🏭 Rock City Tobacco Company (1899)

• Founded in 1899 by the Drouin brothers (one of whom, Olivier-Napoléon, became mayor of Quebec City in 1910) and Joseph Picard [citation:3]
• The company’s name references Cap Diamant (the rocky promontory of Quebec City) [citation:3]
• At its peak, employed about 500 people, mostly women, with approximately 20 sales representatives across Canada [citation:3]
• Remained independent until 1936, when Carreras of London bought 70% of its shares [citation:3]

Hamilton: The Tuckett Tobacco Company

George E. Tuckett was one of Hamilton’s most remarkable 19th-century industrialists — and a model employer in an era of harsh working conditions.

👔 George E. Tuckett — From Cigarmaker to Mayor

• Learned cigarmaking in the local shop of Alfred Quimby, becoming a member of the local cigarmakers’ union [citation:1]
• 1866: Teamed up with bookkeeper John Billings to start T.&B. Tobacco Manufactory in Hamilton [citation:1]
• 1880: Billings retired; Tuckett continued with his son [citation:1]
• 1890: Moved production to a large new plant on Queen Street, employing over 600 men and women [citation:1]
• 1891: Cigarettes were added to the product line [citation:1]
• 1930: Tuckett Tobacco Company was acquired by Imperial Tobacco [citation:2]

⭐ A Progressive Employer

• ⏰ Nine-hour day: When other factory workers worked 10-12 hour shifts [citation:1]
• 💰 Merit-based bonuses: Awarded bonuses on the basis of merit [citation:1]
• 🚫 No fining system: Shunned the strict system of fining common in most other tobacco factories [citation:1]
• 🏠 Home ownership: Gave long-time employees deeds to city lots and enough cash to build their own homes [citation:1]
• 🤝 Union arbitrator: Trusted by Hamilton’s working community to arbitrate an 1883 dispute between rival cigarmakers’ unions [citation:1]

Kingston: Simon Oberndorffer’s Cigar Empire

Simon Oberndorffer, a Bavarian immigrant, built a thriving cigar business in Kingston — one of the most successful in Eastern Ontario [citation:4].

• 📅 1857: Moved from New York to Kingston, learning the tobacco trade [citation:4]
• 🏭 Factory location: Operated a factory at 298-304 Ontario St. — a four-storey brick building with 60-foot frontage and 120-foot depth [citation:4]
• 👥 Workforce: 48 employees processed tobacco from the US; highest-quality cigars used Sumatra leaves from Holland [citation:4]
• 💰 Wages (1888): Journeymen earned $12-15 per week; boys (16+) and girls (14+) earned $2-5 per week [citation:4]
• 📦 Production: “All the grades running from $25 to $30 per thousand — a good quality of a five-cent cigar by retail” [citation:4]
• 🎓 Legacy: Produced a famous cigar box featuring Queen’s University’s Grant Hall as a likely fundraiser [citation:4]

Working Conditions in 19th Century Tobacco Factories

The tobacco industry was one of the lowest-paying industrial sectors in 19th-century Canada and one of the largest employers of women and children [citation:5].

⚠️ Harsh Conditions in Many Factories

• 👧 Child labour: Young boys and girls as young as 14 worked as “apprentices” [citation:4][citation:5]
• 💰 Low wages: The cigar industry was one of the lowest paying in Montreal [citation:5]
• ⚙️ Mechanization: By 1888, cigar-making machines were replacing skilled workers with unskilled children disguised as “apprentices” [citation:5]
• 💸 Arbitrary fines: Workers’ already meagre wages were often reduced by a system of fines [citation:5]
• 🔨 Internal police: Some employers maintained an internal police force and jail for punishing apprentices [citation:5]

⚡ Labour Resistance

• Workers formed several unions, including the Cigar Makers’ Union (branches 58 and 226) — the most militant [citation:5]
• 1883: Industry-wide strike for wage increases, beginning with S. Davis and Sons [citation:5]
• 1894: Successful strike against S. Davis and Sons to stop a proposed 20% wage cut [citation:5]
• 1895: Repeat strike action against Davis — results unknown [citation:5]

🌟 Exception: George Tuckett’s Model Factory

• Unlike other manufacturers, Davis had no fine or punishment system [citation:1][citation:5]
• S. Davis and Sons “always had the reputation of treating their employees in the fairest manner” — Montreal Daily Star [citation:5]
• However, La Presse claimed “their relations with [their workers] were not always very friendly,” noting at least 20 strikes at the company [citation:5]

The Birth of Imperial Tobacco Canada (1908)

The late 1890s saw the American Tobacco Company (ATC) — a US monopoly — aggressively enter the Canadian market, acquiring local manufacturers and engaging in price wars [citation:8].

🏛️ The Takeover Timeline

• 1898: ATC begins acquiring Canadian manufacturers, including Empire Tobacco Co. (maker of “Old Fox”) [citation:10]
• 1898: ATC attempted to purchase B. Houde; when refused, Davis warned he would “crush” them [citation:8]
• 1898-1899: “Tobacco war” in Quebec City — ATC dropped prices and gave away samples to target Houde’s market [citation:8]
• Between 1905-1908: ATC took control of B. Houde & Co., retaining the name as a “French-Canadian front” [citation:8]
• 1908: Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada was formed, merging ATC’s Canadian interests with local companies including B. Houde and Tuckett [citation:2]
• 1912: Imperial received its Dominion charter, under which it still operates [citation:2]
• 1930: Tuckett Tobacco Company was acquired by Imperial [citation:2]

The Decline of the Cigar — The Rise of the Cigarette

While the 19th century was dominated by cigars and chewing tobacco, the 20th century brought a fundamental shift in smoking habits [citation:6].

• 🚬 Cigarettes eclipsed cigars: “As the 1920s rolled along, the development of the cigarette became a more popular form of smoking and cigar smoking began to decline” [citation:6]
• 📉 Factory closures: Brenner Brothers (producing 10 million cigars/year in 1912) eventually closed; William Ward’s factory closed in 1952 [citation:6]
• 🏭 Tuckett’s plant: Closed in 1966 after operations were moved to a modern plant in Guelph [citation:1]
• 🚭 Anti-smoking campaigns: The anti-smoking campaigns of the 1990s and early 2000s further impacted those who farmed tobacco [citation:6]

From 19th Century to Today: Native Cigarettes

While the 19th-century tobacco industry was dominated by large manufacturers in Montreal, Hamilton, and London, today’s market includes a thriving native cigarette industry. Indigenous tobacco traditions predate Confederation by centuries [citation:9]. Native cigarettes from Cigstore.ca continue this legacy:

• 🌾 Traditional tobacco knowledge: Long before Tuckett or Davis, Indigenous peoples cultivated and used tobacco [citation:9]
• 💰 Affordable alternatives: At $29-55 per carton, native cigarettes are 70-80% cheaper than commercial brands
• 🪶 Indigenous-owned: Supporting First Nations economic development
• 📦 Legal and available: Native cigarettes remain available regardless of corporate consolidation