John Middleton Co., a subsidiary of
Altria
Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc. until 2003) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and medical products in the treatment of illnesses ca ...
Group, is the second largest manufacturer of large machine-made
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...
s, and a maker of
pipe 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 most commonly refers to:
*Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria
*Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco
Prince Albert may also refer to:
Royalty
* Alb ...
. 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 ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. 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 an order by telephone call
...
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 (nicknamed K.O.P.) is a census-designated place in Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania, Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. The community took its unusual name in the 18th century from a loca ...
. 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, 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 subsidiaries
Cigar manufacturing companies
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