Adding premiums to packages was a hot-button issue with manufacturers and tax officials alike. Weight plays a role in determining cigar and cigarette tax...and weight margins were often tight... resulting in taxes being affected by the addition of a single card or booklet. Attempts at outlawing all inserts began early, and as typical with any government action, the proposals were modified constantly to suit various powerful interest groups. And few were more powerful than the tobacco lobby. The first all inclusive anti-insert law was passed in 1900. By 1914, after constant lobbying and rewriting, a weakened version protected consumers only from getting a photo of a half-naked beauty like the Cubans enjoyed or the possibility of winning a lottery.

   Coupons were given by an endless stream of companies, large and small, for nearly a century. A wide variety of prizes were offered in exchange, sometimes requiring thousands, even tens of thousands, of coupons.

    Though many companies exchanged tags, bands or coupons for goodies, no one swapped more coupons and certificates (worth 5 to 10 coupons) than the United Cigar Store chain, which at its height had 2,000+ stores and 160 coupon redemption centers. Starting in 1904, the then small chain of stores began publishing simple non-illustrated catalogs of household items and distributing coupons that could be traded for them. Every 5¢ item you bought manufactured by the Tobacco Trust earned one coupon. More expensive items earned higher value coupons. As the years passed, the catalogs grew bigger, showed tantalizing photos of the rewards, and expanded into a wider range of goods...all of life’s hard-goods necessities: furniture, silverware, dishes, clothes, rugs, drapes, sewing machines, toys, tools, baby carriages, fishing gear, sports equipment, pistols and shotguns, and everything else a pre-Depression household needed or wanted including a horse-drawn delivery wagon with your company name already inscribed.

    Critics, the Cigarmaker’s Union in particular, argued that the money spent buying the tobacco would pay for the premiums many times over, a fallacious argument that ignored the fact a lot of chewing and smoking was part of the reward.

    During United’s second decade of operation, other marketers like Wrigley gum, Happiness Candy, and Swift’s meats became convinced to join the “profit sharing” coupon system run by United Cigar Stores. This expansion gave United the greatest buying power of any retailer in the country. Soon manufacturers of Gillette razors, Rogers silver and other important national brands were making sweetheart deals and supporting display ads in United catalogs. 

    Catalogs from United Cigar Stores, John Ruskin, Floradora and others are examined, and some of the prizes pictured, in another exhibit. See top of this page for a link.