Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company

The Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company was a cigarette manufacturer that created the Sweet Caporal brand of cigarettes in 1878.^[1] The company eventually became part of the American Tobacco Company, which became a monopoly in the United States until it was reorganized in 1911.^[1]

Sweet Caporal was a popular brand in the early part of the 20th Century, particularly in Canada. In 1895, American Tobacco entered the Canadian market by acquiring the Montreal-based American Cigarette Company and D. Ritchie and Company, forming the American Tobacco Company of Canada, Ltd. At the time American Tobacco Company of Canada was bought out by the Imperial Tobacco Company of Canada in 1908, Sweet Caporals commanded a 50% share of the Canadian cigarette market. Sweet Caporals were sold in Canada until 2011.^[1]

Kinney Brothers was housed in a row of New York City buildings 200 feet long and 100 feet deep and 4 stories high from 515 to 525 West 22nd Street. At the 513 address was a salesroom and at 529 was a 5-story building of the packing department. The building was built by Kinney Brothers in 1888 after moving from West Broadway. Kinney Brothers was known to be able to manufacture 18,000,000 cigarettes weekly.

On October 6, 1892, the entire building was gutted by a five-alarm fire. It was supposed that the fire started around 5:30 a.m. in the basement storage area of address 521 by a gas leak that was ignited by the lighting system (gasaliers). An estimated 40,000,000 cigarettes were destroyed by flame and/or water damage. The estimated losses to American Tobacco was estimated at $350,000. Due to the earliness of the fire, no one was injured.^[2]

See also

• Abbot Kinney

Notes