Cigarette - Cigar - Tobacco Manufactures

The firm of Salmon & Gluckstein was founded about 1873 at 34 Whitechapel Rd, east London, which at that time was very much a working class area. Over the next 10-15 years they expanded with the opening of new shops, this was achieved by their policy of price cutting and the marriage of their children. Thereby bringing new members into the 'family' enabling a strict control of the business to be maintained from within. 

By the time in 1895 that they became a Public Limited Co. the number of retail outlets which were operated by them, had grown to over 40. All this was done in the face of opposition from the independent tobacconists to whom S & G were a thorn in the side with their price cutting which could not be matched. Also they were beginning to place onto the market their own brands which were made in S & G's factory and subject to heavy promotion, most of them to continue in use for many more years. Expansion was still forging ahead so that by 1889 there were 150 shops with S & G claiming to be the largest tobacconists in the world. This may or not be the case but certainly was so in the U.K.

In 1902 S & G were bought out by the newly formed Imperial Tobacco Co. (I.T.C). This was done not so much as it was wanted, but to stop it falling into the hands of their arch rivals American Tobacco Co. who had set up 'shop' in the U.K. Also it enabled Imp. to restrict the price cutting and further growth of S & G. As part of this deal the small tobacconist chain of A.I. Jones & Co. Ltd were handed over from I.T.C. to S & G but continued to trade under their own name until 1955, when they along with S & G were amalgamated with Bewlay and from then on became Bewlay's tobacconist's. S & G's factory which was now in Clerkenwell Rd. (east London), was taken over by I.T.C in 1904 and the brand name labels began to drop the 'manufactured by' and other wording. 

This was not the end of S & G in big business, a Gluckstein was very much involved in starting the Ardath Tobacco Co. itself taken over by I.T.C. some 20 odd years later. S & G were in control of J.Lyons and became the largest caterers in the world and whose products were in nearly every grocery shop in the U.K.

			All packets & labels on this page are original and date 1893 - 1902
	As far as we are aware this is the complete range of S & G cigarette brands for this period, but not for tobacco, there are many more of these.
			Note. Address & branches only in London c.1893.   Left; Labels with wording which was removed over time and as reprinted after take over by I.T.C.