One of the most storied names in the tobacco business is Chesterfield; remembered for its rapid rise in popularity in the med-20th century and its iconic They Satisfy marketing campaigns.
The cigarette brand can trace its lineage all the way back to 1873 when it was introduced by the Drummond Tobacco Company of St. Louis, Missouri.
In 1911 Chesterfield was acquired by Liggett & Myers (L&M) and they reblended it into a Turkish-Virginia mix to compete with Camel and Lucky Strike. In the 1930s and 40s it was the Big Three - Camel, Lucky Strike and Chesterfield - that engaged in a fierce tobacco war spending millions on radio, print and celebrity endorsements to grab their share of a rapidly-growing population of smokers.
During World War II combat field rations (C and K) included a pack of three, four or nine cigarettes introducing an entire generation of servicemen and women to smoking on the the government's dime. While Chesterfield was most frequently found in K rations, by the end of the war industry leader Camel had earmarked more than half of their total annual production to the military.
Chesterfield's signature slogan was They Satisfy - eventually introducing Blow Some My Way in a not so subtle reach for women smokers. The brand was famously pitched by Ronald Reagan, Lucille Ball and James Arness (Gunsmoke). It was the brand of choice for James Bond and the first of countless smokes consumed by author Stephen King.
Nowadays, the brand is owned by Altria (manufactured by subsidiary Philip Morris USA) and after a brief hiatus was reintroduced to the US market in 2019 with filters - Gasp! Philip Morris International supplies the rest of the world.
I grew-up with second hand smoke. Unfiltered Chesterfields were my late, great mother's smoke of choice until my daughter was born
Fast Fact: The inclusion of cigarettes in military rations did not officially end until 1975 as health concerns finally outweighed any lingering morale-boosting benefit.
Smoke 'em if you got 'em.....
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