John Middleton Co., a subsidiary of
Altria Group, is the second largest manufacturer of large machine-made
cigars, and a maker of
pipe
Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:
Objects
* Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
** Piping, the use of pipes in industry
* Smoking pipe
** Tobacco pipe
* Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
.
Brands
Cigar brands sold by John Middleton include
Black & Mild, Middleton's Cherry Blend, Gold & Mild and
Prince Albert. Prince Albert cigars are available in Soft Cherry Vanilla and Soft & Sweet Vanilla varieties. Black & Mild is the top-selling cigar in the five-pack category in the United States, with nearly a third of the market in 2009.
Pipe tobacco brands include Prince Albert and Carter Hall. At one time they produced several now discontinued blends.
History
In 1856, John Middleton opened a tobacco store in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. Later, his family added more stores and a
mail order
Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as:
* Sending an order form in the mail
* Placing a telephone call
* Placing ...
business.
In 1950, the company began making its own pipe tobacco, and by 1959 sold its stores and concentrated on making and selling tobacco. In 1960, John Middleton Co. moved to
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
King of Prussia (also referred to as KOP) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 22,028. The community took its unusual name in the 18th ...
. In 1968, using Middleton's Cherry Blend (its best-selling brand at the time), the company began making pipe-tobacco cigars. In 1980, Black & Mild became the company's second cigar brand, and its top seller by 1996.
By the late 1980s, John Middleton Co. had bought the pipe tobacco brands Kentucky Club, Prince Albert, Carter Hall, Apple and Royal Comfort.
In 1997, the company bought a facility in
Limerick, Pennsylvania
Limerick Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States.
History
The township was named for the hometown of early settler William Evans, whose family arrived in the area from Limerick, Ireland in 1698. The township is ...
, which became its primary manufacturing location the next year. Processing remained at King of Prussia. Also in the 1990s, the company introduced two Prince Albert cigar brands.
In 2007, John Middleton Co. became a subsidiary of Altria Group. During the same decade, the company introduced several more Black & Mild cigar products, including one that was shorter than the others.
See also
*
John S. Middleton
References
External links
*
The History of Black & Mild Cigars
Altria Group subsidiaries
Cigar manufacturing companies
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