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FACTORY TOURS: ANOTHER TOBACCO VICTIM\ AFTER 80 YEARS R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO. STOPS ITS FACTORY TOURS

  • BY GEOFF EDGERS The Associated Press
  • Feb 15, 1998
  • Feb 15, 1998 Updated Jan 25, 2015

Edna Laird heard about the end at a staff meeting. After 80 years, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. would no longer offer tours of its cigarette factory as of Jan. 30.

For Laird, her 22 years as a guide at the Whitaker Park manufacturing center have been a blessing. There are the celebrities who have walked through: President Bush, Shirley Temple Black, Rusty Wallace and Don Drysdale. There are her fellow guides, perfectly Southern women who sit just to the left of the front door, smoke always rising from an ashtray behind the counter. And, of course, the visitors.There was a time, billions of cigarettes ago, when folks filled the lobby, coming from all over for the celebrated, 25-minute tour. Smokers and nonsmokers, retirees, school children, country singers. What they had in common lay inside the building, a fascinating encounter with a working factory.

Some days, Laird would walk through a dozen times. This day, she waited for the occasional couple to lead past instructional panels, the massive machines which turn raw tobacco into millions of neat cigarettes, and the company's museum.

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When Laird was asked where the people have gone, why this was the last tour, she made a passing reference to the ``political stuff' before settling on a far more puzzling answer. ``Most of it has to do with the decline in tourism,' she said.

Of course, S. Margaret Pike, a spokeswoman for the city's department of tourism, said there has been no drop. What's more likely at work - why R.J. Reynolds says these tours are no longer ``cost effective' - has more to do with big tobacco's image problem.

William H. Hunter, who works for the Winston-Salem Convention & Visitors Bureau, has noticed. Where once Whitaker Park was a must-see, now Hunter hesitates to mention it to just anyone.

``More and more, people would stop in and we would ask if they wanted to go to the cigarette factory, and they would say, 'Don't even talk to me about smoking or cigarettes,' ' said Hunter, a nonsmoker who thinks it's a shame the tour is stopping.

The tour has always been about the numbers, machines churning out 400 packs a minute, 11 miles of filter an hour, 275 million cigarettes in a day. The reasons for the end are also in the numbers. In the 1970s, Whitaker Park hosted an average of 60,000 visitors a year. The figures were down to 45,000 in 1992 and just 20,000 last year.

``Remember,' said Carole S. Crosslin, an RJR spokeswoman, ``a lot of this is still going to be open. You'll still be able to go through the souvenir store, you'll still be able to go through the museum. There's going to be additional video so you can see what happens on the floor.'

Only one thing will be missing: the tour.

The tour has always seemed a natural stop in Winston-Salem, a city with an indelible link to big tobacco.

Consider that the Reynolds family - which opened its first plant in 1875 - has built a high school, a hospital for African-Americans and turned the family mansion into an art museum.

Bowman Gray, a company president in the early years, left Wake Forest College $750,000 when he died in 1935 to move its medical school from Raleigh to Winston-Salem. More Reynolds money lured the college itself to the city in the '50s.

There was a time when R.J. Reynolds would pay a quarter of the city's property taxes. Even today, the chamber of commerce lists it as the city's top employer.

The decline in visitors didn't start with the surgeon general's report in 1964 that linked smoking and cancer. Through the '70s, touring Whitaker Park was as much a part of grade school as was multiplication tables.

``You had to really plan way ahead of time because so many other schools were vying for tours,' said Ann Seagle, who took her elementary school classes from Charlotte to Whitaker Park. ``We were studying the products of North Carolina, and tobacco was the cash crop. The tour was wonderful for children to be able to see the process, the technology.'

Seagle, now an assistant principal in Charlotte, changed her tone when asked why she stopped taking field trips to the factory.

``We do anti-smoking things,' she said. ``The process is fascinating, but what cigarettes stand for today and the medical problems, no.'

Charles G. Conner, 42, assistant principal at Brunson Elementary School in Winston-Salem, has toured Whitaker Park so many times on his own, he said, ``I can shut my eyes right now and see how it works.'

But why doesn't he bring the students through?

``Smoking is not as glamorous as it once was,' Conner said. ``There's so many people against it that it's just not cool anymore.'

RJR didn't hold a big news conference to announce the end of the tours, which it has offered in some form since 1918. Pike, Winston's tourism spokeswoman, said she didn't learn about the decision until she called RJR to double-check the company's entry in the city guide.

William Hunter heard from an RJR worker, leaving him to ponder what to do about the promotional film at the visitors' center that boasts the Whitaker Park tour is ``a terrific show' of ``one of the world's largest and most modern plants.'

Slowly, word traveled around town.

``We're sad to see it stop,' said Charles Anderson. ``We hate to see what the government is doing. The warning label should be adequate.'

Politics are, refreshingly, not part of Laird's presentation, save for a passing mention of the $6.5 million - 24 cents a pack - RJR pays in federal excise taxes each day.

She is charming and professional, starting with the mural in the front lobby, walking through large, illuminated panels that instruct on the process (from planting to research) and finally, a walk through the factory.

Weldon Denny, state deputy agricultural commissioner, still raves about his first tour - 56 years ago in the old downtown factory.

Denny grew up on a farm, planting and priming tobacco from the time he was old enough to work. But until that first visit, tobacco was a story that ended when he and his daddy sold it in a downtown warehouse.

``That was one of the most fascinating things I had ever seen, how that tobacco was put into the cigarette and chopped up,' Denny said.

With the factory floor now closed to the public, what remains is the museum and gift shop, a smorgasbord of antique cigarette cases, an endless loop of old commercials banned from the television airwaves in 1971 and the company's reaction to industry attacks.

There is the teen prevention center, complete with a pamphlet titled ``How to Talk to Your Kids About Not Smoking Even If You Do' that advises, ``If you smoke because you enjoy smoking - as most smokers do - say so ... But also make it clear that you are doing so as an informed adult' and ``if you really don't want to smoke and would rather quit, you should share these feelings with your child. However if you feel this way, you should actually quit smoking.'

There are also pamphlets on secondhand smoking (``not been shown to cause lung cancer in nonsmokers') and the cigarette tax (with an increase of $1 ``as many as 388,000 American jobs would disappear').

But RJR never forced its employees to smoke. It never forced its visitors to, either.

``It's a choice,' said Joanne Martin, 63, a nonsmoker in for a final tour. ``And I think that's been taken away.'

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From Family Estate to Renowned Museum

Completed in 1917, Reynolda House Museum of American Art was originally the home of Katharine Smith and R.J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Promising a healthier lifestyle, the more than 34,000-square-foot historic home was the centerpiece of a 1,067-acre estate and model farm. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, the Reynolds family’s 64-room historic house stands as one of the few well-preserved, surviving examples of the American Country House movement.  Inside, you’ll find not only more than 6,000 historic objects, but also a collection of world-renowned American art on view in the historic house and special exhibitions in the Babcock Gallery. Spanning 250 years, the collection is a chronology of American art, and features artists such as  Georgia O’Keeffe, Frederic Edwin Church, Alexander Calder, Romare Bearden, Lee Krasner, Stuart Davis, Martin Johnson Heade, Jacob Lawrence, John Singer Sargent, Andy Warhol and Grant Wood. Works rotate throughout the historic house frequently, and the Museum keeps a listing of current works of American art on view here . View a listing of decorative arts on view here .

Special exhibitions take place seasonally in the Babcock Gallery. View our current and upcoming exhibitions here.  

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rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Bake for 25-35 minutes, until puffed and golden. Remove from oven, and let stand for 5 minutes. With a flexible spatula, remove strata to

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You can try, but you can’t consolidate them, stereotype them, lump them together. Oh, that mill, that warehouse, that factory. It’s just like that other mill, or warehouse, or factory.

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Inside the revamped r.j. reynolds tobacco factory.

The factory that originally housed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. has gotten new life as the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

You can try, but you can’t consolidate them, stereotype them, lump them together. Oh, that mill, that warehouse, that factory. It’s just like that other mill, or warehouse, or factory. But there’s always one, isn’t there? In a crowd, in a classroom, at a party, at a meeting. The inconsistent one. The non-traditionalist. The break-the-mold one. There’s one in Winston-Salem, and it’s still breaking the mold.

R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was keeping it local long before the trend was launched. They didn’t just make cigarettes in their numbered downtown Winston-Salem plants. They made everything they needed to make the cigarettes, as well. Building 91 was the machine shop, built in 1937 to repair and create the machinery to sustain the manufacture of cigarettes. Today, Building 91 is Wake Forest Biotech Place, which opened February 21, 2012. Governor Bev Purdue was there. Vice President Joe Biden has been there. They’re still making things there. Like vaccines for whooping cough.

wake forest innovation quarter

Fine, but where’s the architectural irregularity? Because here, too, are the original wood floors, planed three times for maximum smoothness (and pale color). Here are 12-inch solid concrete columns, and here are the rough, exposed, concrete walls, though now painted. The inconsistency comes in the form of the 66,000 hollow glass blocks, instead of bricks, that make up the Biotech Place’s exterior walls. Why glass blocks? At the time, glass bricks were the rage in Europe, and the story is that the company who was constructing the building for RJR said, Let us do it this way. Replied RJR: Thanks, but no. Regular bricks work just fine for us. Tell you what, the building firm said. If you don’t like it, we’ll tear it down and start over. For the renovation, which took 18 months from demolition to completion, every single glass brick was removed, inspected by hand for cracks and other flaws, repaired, and reused, if possible, in the 242,000-square-foot building.

wake forest innovation quarter

Or you can go work out in the YMCA branch just there, beside Building 91. Biotech Place, rather. While one warehouse — correction: “ecosystem of innovation” — over, an internationally renowned scientist is figuring out how to keep you living longer, healthier, and happier. Which, come to think of it, are synonyms of revitalized.

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Coming to Your Senses: Local History Exhibit Unveils Life in the Former Tobacco District

by Innovation Quarter

6 minute read

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

The sweet smell of dried tobacco.

The rumble of trains rolling out of town, laden with Camel and Salem cigarettes, waiting to be shipped around the world.

The hum of countless conversations as thousands of workers arrive in the morning and depart at the end of the day.

Wake Forest Innovation Quarter was a very different place a few decades ago. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.—the economic engine that powered Winston-Salem for a century—drew thousands of workers to the area every day.

But despite the impact that Reynolds and tobacco have left on the city, relatively little is known about the day-to-day working lives of Reynolds workers.

Recording History

Amanda Holland, a graduate student in the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s museum studies program, has long been interested in tobacco’s role in North Carolina’s history.

“It’s no secret that R.J. Reynolds has had such an impact on not just Winston-Salem, but also on North Carolina as a whole,” she says. But, she adds, “very little had been written about what it was like to work there.”

As a historian, she says, that hole in the historical narrative was a “red flag,” a sign more research was needed. While former tobacco factory workers still live in Winston-Salem, the majority of the community has no recollection of what life was like in the tobacco district.

In 2015 Holland was presented with the opportunity to create an exhibit about the Innovation Quarter’s history by New Winston Museum and the Innovation Quarter—giving her the chance to begin filling the gap in history. The end result, “Making Sense of the Factory: Life at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company,” was revealed earlier in May at Wake Forest Biotech Place and will travel to several locations in Winston-Salem throughout 2016.

Complementing the exhibit, three events will be held to help create conversation around this part of local history. The series results from a partnership between the Innovation Quarter, New Winston Museum, Triad Cultural Arts and Reynolda House Museum of American Art—all organizations that share the objective of preserving Winston-Salem’s unique, cultural history.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

“During Reynolds’ heyday, the area represented a kind of socioeconomic border region in the city,” says Chris Jordan, curator of education at the New Winston Museum, which is organizing the exhibit. “Affluent executives who lived in the neighborhoods to the west of downtown would interact with working class residents of east Winston-Salem in Reynolds’ offices, factories and warehouses. When workers left at the end of the day, some headed east to go home, others west.”

Jordan says a conversation about the history of Winston-Salem is important to the community, including how the heart of Reynolds’ manufacturing operations are now manufacturing wealth from new ideas.

“It builds trust,” he says. “This is an opportunity for people from different parts of Winston-Salem to learn together and participate as a new economic engine is built on the site of the former Reynolds Tobacco buildings.”

“This is a dialogue,” says Lindsey Yarborough, senior manager of community relations at the Innovation Quarter, which will host the exhibition from May through July before moving to the New Winston Museum, “It’s important for the Innovation Quarter and the larger community to understand the significant past of this place going forward.”

Digging up the Past

To understand this past and gather the information needed for the exhibit, Holland spent over six months researching the topic.

With backing from the Innovation Quarter and the New Winston Museum, Holland started contacting former Reynolds workers. She sat down with six former employees, plus a farmer who supplied tobacco to Reynolds, and recorded more than 13 hours of oral history interviews. The interviews provide a glimpse into what it was like to work at one of the world’s largest tobacco companies at a time when it was still a vital part of North Carolina’s economy and culture.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Insights from those interviews, as well as other research, are presented in the exhibition. Organizers hope the exhibition will bring back former Reynolds workers to learn about the Innovation Quarter, and that in turn, Innovation Quarter workers will learn about the history of the buildings they occupy and the lives of the workers who preceded them.

The exhibition’s seven panels document the past and present of the former Reynolds Tobacco factories through the five senses. Holland’s interviews provide insights into what it was like to work at Reynolds from the 1970s through the 2000s — the sights, sounds, feel, tastes and smells.

“If you don’t smell raw tobacco or cigarettes, you know something’s wrong,” Malcolm Calhoun, a former security supervisor for the company told Holland, recalling his days at Reynolds. “Someone’s not working.”

During her interviews, Holland learned about much more than tobacco. She also discovered that the relationship between Reynolds and its workers and the relationships among the employees were a lot like a family.

Holland explains that, just as with real families, there were conflicts at times. But employees were also proud to work at Reynolds, with children sometimes succeeding their parents in factory jobs. Reynolds repaid the loyalty in many ways.

In the early ‘70s, the company introduced more advanced manufacturing equipment. To operate it, employees had to be able to read and write, but not all workers were literate. So Reynolds arranged for tutors from Forsyth Technical Community College to instruct workers during meal breaks.

Individuals who needed the instruction got five years to learn enough to catch up with their peers. Those who didn’t would be reduced a pay grade—but could still keep their jobs.

“R.J. Reynolds was very conscious of needing to invest in their employees, to keep them happy and make the company more efficient as well,” Holland says. “That tutoring story is one of my favorites, particularly because the interviewee was getting a little emotional when he was telling this story. Clearly it meant a lot to him.”

“We all have a right to share our stories,” she says. “Even for someone who just got the job in the factory to put food on the table—that’s their history. That needs to be shared and celebrated.”

Visit the exhibit on the second floor of Wake Forest Biotech Place from May through July. In August the exhibit will move to New Winston Museum where it will be displayed until early September. The next event in this series will be presented by Dr. Bob Korstad, author and professor of public policy and history at Duke University, at Reynolda House Museum of American Art on Sunday, July 31. Details to follow.

by Mark Tosczak

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Who killed heir to Reynolds tobacco fortune? Museum exhibit explores NC unsolved mystery

F orty thousand guests each year tour the 1917 Reynolda House to learn about its original Arts and Crafts furnishings, its vast collection of American art and the indoor bowling alley and squash courts that helped make the 64-room “bungalow” the Biltmore of the Piedmont.

What docents never wanted to talk about was the subject that loomed the largest in the rambling country home built for the family of the founder of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company:

Who shot Z. Smith Reynolds?

After changing the subject for 91 years, the estate finally tells what it knows about the mysterious shooting of R.J. Reynolds’ youngest son in an upstairs room of the house in 1932, through an exhibit that runs until Dec. 31. It’s called “Smith & Libby: Two Rings, Seven Months, One Bullet.”

The exhibit includes information taken from newspapers and the estate’s archives along with artifacts and memorabilia pulled from Reynolda’s holdings or borrowed from collectors who have been fascinated by the case and its characters for decades. The exhibit is the result of exhaustive research by Phil Archer, deputy director of the museum, who tried — as investigators, a grand jury, Reynolds family members, news reporters and the public did nearly a century ago — to determine whether Reynolds’ death was a suicide, an accident or a murder.

Who were the Reynoldses?

Richard Joshua Reynolds , born in 1850 on a tobacco plantation in Patrick County, Va., moved to the crossroads community of Winston in 1874 to start his own tobacco manufacturing company. He introduced Prince Albert Pipe Tobacco in 1907 and Camel cigarettes in 1913. They became two of the most popular tobacco products in the U.S. and Reynolds, better known as R.J. Reynolds , became the wealthiest man in North Carolina.

At the age of 54, Reynolds married Katharine Smith , his first cousin once removed, and together the couple bought an expanse of land two miles outside of town for the construction of a country house and working farm where Katharine wanted to test new farming methods and notions of healthy living.

It took three years and $200,000 (the 2023 equivalent of more than $4.8 million) to build the home.

The couple and their children — two daughters and two sons — moved into the house in December 1917, with R.J. Reynolds already ailing from what is now believed to have been pancreatic cancer. He died the next year.

Growing up at Reynolda

Katharine stayed at Reynolda after her husband’s death, overseeing the family, the farm, the gardens and the adjacent village of 100 laborers required to keep it all running.

In 1921, she married Edward Johnston, the superintendent of her Reynolda School, and moved with him into a cottage on the property, leaving the Reynolds children in the main house largely under the care of a governess. Despite serious heart problems that made pregnancy dangerous for her, she was determined to have a child with Johnston, some 13 years her junior.

The couple’s firstborn, a daughter, died shortly after birth. A second child, a son, survived but the birth caused Katharine to suffer an embolism that took her life a few days later in May 1924.

After her death, Johnston took the baby to Baltimore and the orphaned Reynolds children went to live with an uncle. Zachary Smith Reynolds , who went by Smith, was 12 years old.

The estate was placed into a trust awaiting the children’s coming of age.

Z. Smith Reynolds on his own

Like his older brother, Dick, Smith Reynolds became fascinated with airplanes, which Archer attributes in part to their mother’s having invited barnstormers to land on Reynolda’s front lawn after the end of World War I and to Charles Lindbergh’s successful 1927 trans-Atlantic flight.

After Dick Reynolds dropped out of N.C. State and started Reynolds Aviation, Smith left high school and went to work for the company. At 16, Smith was the nation’s youngest licensed pilot, his certificate bearing the signature of Orville Wright.

The brothers are said to have used the lawn at Reynolda as an airfield and performed stunts to scare their sisters.

In November 1929, days after he turned 18, Smith Reynolds married Anne Ludlow Cannon of the Cannon Mills textile family. The girl’s father was reported to have insisted on the wedding and gone with the young couple to South Carolina to ensure it happened.

Biographers have said it was a rocky union and the pair fought in front of friends and family. Though Anne was pregnant, she and the young Reynolds separated in early 1930. Their daughter was born that August.

Libby: A star in his eye

In April of that year, Reynolds went to Baltimore to see his Broadway-producer friend Dwight Deere Wiman’s touring production of “The Little Show,” featuring college-educated actress and torch singer Libby Holman . It was her breakthrough role, in which she performed her signature song, “Moanin’ Low,” borrowing stylistically from African American female singers.

Reynolds was smitten and began pursuing the free-spirited Holman with the same determination he had applied to flight lessons. He would fly to cities where she was performing and arrive at the theater in his aviator gear. When “The Little Show” went to Broadway, he watched nearly every performance from the front row.

Holman told friends that her suitor had asked her to marry him not long after meeting her, and asked her repeatedly over the next year and a half, suggesting he might kill himself if she didn’t.

Reynolds arranged for a divorce from Anne Cannon in Reno, Nev., in November 1931 and, though they argued frequently too, he persuaded Holman to marry him before a justice of the peace in a town in Michigan six days later.

From there, Holman went back on tour and Reynolds took off on what was supposed to be a record-breaking 17,000-mile trip from London to Hong Kong in a biplane. When the plane broke down, he had to make the last leg of the trip on an oil freighter but rendezvoused in Hong Kong to begin a honeymoon with his new wife.

When they returned to the U.S., the couple moved into Reynolda House to spend the summer of 1932.

The fateful night

On July 5, Reynolds and Holman hosted a small birthday party for a friend at the estate. In accounts of the event later, those present said much of the evening was spent at or around the boathouse on 16-acre Lake Katharine, an impoundment the Reynolds family had built on Silas Creek behind the house.

It was a party; there was plenty of moonshine, guests said later, despite the rules of Prohibition. Some said Holman had engaged in a drinking contest with another guest.

After the party broke up, the only ones left in the house were Reynolds, Holman, Reynolds’ longtime friend and newly hired assistant Albert “Ab” Walker , and Blanche Yurka , a theater friend of Libby’s.

Sometime after midnight, Reynolds and Holman went upstairs to the bedroom on the east end of the house, one of several rooms with sleeping porches attached.

Holman would later say her only memory of the day was waking up on the bed on the porch when Reynolds called her name, and seeing a flash before he fell onto her.

Diverging stories

Yurka, who was in a bedroom near the other end of the house, later told investigators she heard what sounded like a hysterical voice around 1 a.m., and ran toward the balcony overlooking the first-floor reception area. She saw Walker below, called to him, and said he ran up the stairs toward Reynolds’ and Holman’s room.

Yurka said Walker and Holman came out of the room carrying Reynolds, and she went to help, all three of them bringing him downstairs.

Records show Walker called an ambulance at some point, but deciding they couldn’t wait for help to arrive, Walker, Yurka and Holman carried Reynolds out of the house and put him in a car. Walker drove to the hospital with Yurka in the backseat holding Reynolds’ head and Holman in the front passenger seat.

Reynolds was still alive when they reached Baptist Hospital but died four hours later.

He was 20 years old.

It was suicide. No, it was murder. Maybe.

The death originally was ruled a suicide, based on Holman’s account. But the more questions investigators tried to ask, the less consistent the answers became.

A coroner’s inquiry, held in the very house where the shooting occurred, led investigators to convene a grand jury and bring first-degree murder charges against Holman, who was accused of pulling the trigger, and Walker, who was charged as an accomplice.

News media had descended on Reynolda, sending dispatches back to New York and elsewhere. Unable to get information from law enforcement, they leaned heavily on speculation, including about whether Holman and Walker had had an affair and whether the baby she was now known to be carrying might have been his and not Reynolds’.

It turned out Reynolds had suggested many times to different people, beginning in high school and at least once the night of the party, that he might kill himself. But the trajectory of the bullet that entered his right temple and exited out the porch screen couldn’t have been fired by someone standing up as Holman said he had been.

For every bit of evidence or testimony that supported a suicide, it seemed there was another piece that suggested murder.

The family, Archer said, with its distaste for scandal, couldn’t bear the possibility that a Reynolds baby might be born in prison. So when police struggled to find enough evidence to ensure convictions, the family asked that the charges — and as far as they were concerned, the whole subject — be dropped.

Lifting the taboo

Though the mystery sparked the production of three different movies and a library shelf worth of biographies and books, it wasn’t discussed at Reynolda, which is now owned by Wake Forest University, or among the board of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, the philanthropy launched with the inheritance that the youngest Reynolds didn’t live long enough to collect.

But then, Archer said, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a local television station approached the museum about doing a story on an anniversary of the case, and for the first time ever, Reynolds family members and other descendants of those involved in the 1930s were willing to let Reynolda speak about what had happened in the house.

Response was so positive that Archer decided to put together the “Smith & Libby” exhibit, using the estate’s remarkable collection and the calm perspective that comes with the passage of time.

The display, in the main exhibit hall at the museum, begins with a vintage newsreel that played before the start of movies as the case was playing out. It describes Reynolds’ near-obsession with Holman and lays out the events that culminated with that single gunshot, letting visitors stand in a life-sized enlargement of the sheriff’s sketch of the shooting scene. It includes fragments from the bullet casing that were handed over along with the rest of the evidence gathered in the investigation.

For the first time since the house opened as a museum in the 1960s, the porch where Reynolds was shot and the bedroom it is attached to are included in the house tour.

Even with the perspective of 90 years and all the resources Archer was able to gather, the exhibit doesn’t definitively solve the case. But Archer, who has worked at the museum since 1997, says that’s not really what he set out to do.

“The first thing was, I didn’t want to get any of the story wrong,” he said, “because for all their flaws, I have a lot of affection and respect for all the people involved.

“But in the end, it was just refreshing to tell the story ourselves and to show that we didn’t need to be so fearful about the truth.”

Visit Reynolda and see the ‘Smith & Libby’ exhibit

▪ “Smith & Libby: Two Rings, Seven Months, One Bullet, ” runs through Dec. 31 at Reynolda House Museum of American Art, 2250 Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem.

▪ Hours: The museum is open Tuesdays through Saturdays 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sundays 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

▪ Cost: Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at reynolda.org .

The garden and grounds are open during daylight hours year-round, at no charge.

©2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

This publicity photo of singer and Broadway starlet Libby Holman in a groundbreaking strapless gown was widely published in newspapers after she was charged with first-degree murder in the death of her new husband, Z. Smith Reynolds.

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Winston-Salem Journal

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Lost empire: The fall of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

  • Journal reporters Frank Tursi, Susan E. White and Steve McQuilkin
  • Dec 26, 1999

Here's how far the mighty have fallen: Not too long ago, a reporter called the public-relations department at Philip Morris USA to ask a simple question. When did Marlboro overtake Winston as the top cigarette in the United States? The woman at Philip Morris went to her reference materials.

"Who makes Winston?" she asked. What's that? The reporter said.

She repeated the question. He told her.

"Oh," she replied. "Now, where's R.J. Reynolds located?"

What's that? He asked again.

Again, she repeated the question. He told her.

"Oh," she replied.

RJR once lorded over the tobacco industry from its fortress on Main and Fourth streets. When our series opened, in the 1950s, someone working for Charlie Wade in the company's public-relations department might have responded equally indifferently to questions about Philip Morris, an insignificant blip to Bowman Gray, Ed Darr and the other executives who strode the halls of the Reynolds Building.

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Nowadays, there are people in the New York headquarters of the new king, Philip Morris, for whom R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is nothing more than an afterthought.

Though many in Winston-Salem like to blame the company's downfall on F. Ross Johnson and the leveraged buyout he inspired, the reasons are much more complex, and some aren't very mysterious.

As this series has detailed overthe past two months, RJR leaders believed in their greatness. What had worked in the past would work again in the future. Like many other successful executives of big corporations, they acquired the usual encumbrances of success - among them arrogance and bureaucracy. So steeped were they in the company's culture that those who led RJR in the 1970s failed to react quickly to the storm over smoking and health that was gathering over their heads and was changing their industry.

Every child now knows that smoking can kill. The loud and often acrimonious debate about smoking has gone on so long that most people tend to forget that there was a time when there was little or no debate. Smoking once was glamorous. Smoking was sexy. It was a rite of initiation into the adult world. In the early 1950s, nearly half of the adult population smoked, and RJR and the other tobacco companies supplied them with their daily fix of nicotine.

Running a tobacco company back then, a former RJR executive said, was the easiest thing in the world. You couldn't make cigarettes fast enough.

That all changed as more smokers quit and fewer people took their place. Now, less than a quarter of American adults smoke. How RJR's executives responded to the growing health issue, how they conducted themselves in the battle that still rages over smoking's toll on society are major factors in understanding what happened to RJR. The company's executives still deny that smoking causes lung cancer or other ailments. Early on, they tried to hide internal research that tended to show otherwise. They put the fortunes of the company above all else.

What anti-smoking activists couldn't do, lawyers finally did. Much of this story played out in the courtroom, where industry and plaintiffs' lawyers are involved in a high-stakes game. The damning memos and internal reports that the lawsuits brought to light revealed a rather unsavory side of the industry. As any good tobacco man knows, image is everything. For years they sold their cigarettes, not based on any real difference among brands, but with beguiling advertising.The company memos and reports that tumbled out of courtrooms made America think there was something suspect about this business. RJR, for instance, can deny all it wants that Joe Camel was designed to appeal to children. People think that it was, and no one wants you messing with their kids.

Branded as poisoners of children, their adult customers turned into social pariahs, their political allies running for cover, RJR and other once-proud tobacco companies were forced to the settlement table.

That agreement won't end the hostility and distrust that people such as Matt Myers have for RJR and the other tobacco companies. The settlement, he said, doesn't wipe out the years of denials.

"We're seeing the dawn of a new era in which the tobacco industry will constantly be under attack from one place if not another," said Myers, the executive vice president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. "As soon as they put out a fire, there's every reason to believe that another will emerge. It's unrealistic for the industry to think there will be an easy out or a knockout punch on their side to solve all their problems."

Forty years ago, Reynolds Tobacco was simply a domestic tobacco company. Then would come waves of diversification, investments in oil, shipping, fruit, cookies and liquor, and the creation of a cigarette business that spanned the globe. In 1989, it was sold to investors in a mammoth deal that made a lot of people wealthy and crippled the company with debt. Then came the dismantling.

The international cigarette business, built country by country in the 1970s and 1980s, was sold this year, after the company gambled and lost in the foundering economies of the former Soviet Union. And in June, RJR officially separated from Nabisco, cutting the final tie to a business strategy begun more than 30 years ago, when the company began plowing its profits into businesses other than tobacco. The remarkable company founded in 1875 by Richard Joshua Reynolds had come full circle.

Promising Future

Andrew Schindler isn't throwing in the towel. He says he thinks RJR and tobacco still have a promising future. "My view, (is) the product, as long as it's legal, will be here," said Schindler, the chairman and chief executive of RJR. "I don't know how big the industry will be 25 or 30 years from now. I don't know what percent of that will be smoking. I think it will be substantial. I think it will be a profitable business to be in."

Every day, about 1.1 billion cigarettes are made for sale in the United States. Domestic retail sales exceed $40 billion. From farms and factories to retail stores, the U.S. tobacco industry employs more than 650,000 people.

Reynolds Tobacco is a stronger company these days, Schindler said. He credits the $8 billion sale of the international tobacco company to Japan Tobacco. Much of the proceeds cleaned up RJR's balance sheet, erasing all but $900 million of the debt remaining from the leveraged buyout. "It's a good feeling, at least going into this thing, to believe that you have that ability to think in those terms, as opposed to where we were before being very cash-restrained," Schindler said.

Investors don't yet share his optimism. When RJR went public June 15, its stock sold for $32 a share. It's down to below $18, even with a $3.10 a share dividend, among the highest on Wall Street.

Shedding that debt also makes RJR less vulnerable to a crippling jury verdict, Schindler said. "It's a different world now," he said. "First of all, the AGs' (attorneys general) suits have been resolved. It came at a big price, but they are resolved. So there's not this uncertain risk of the AG suits. Plus, we're sitting on a whole different situation relative to debt, relative to balance sheet, relative to available cash. The bankruptcy question, in my opinion, is no longer relevant like it was a couple of years ago."

By signing last year's 25-year, $206 billion national settlement, RJR and the other tobacco companies wiped out the remaining state lawsuits, which were filed to recoup health-care money spent treating indigent smokers who were sick. Still, the agreement didn't protect the cigarette companies from private lawsuits. "The global settlement put people in the state of mind that these guys have got a lot of money to give away," said David Logan, a professor at Wake Forest University's School of Law.

The industry's fate might hinge on how badly the states want to be paid. "I don't think the lawsuits will drive them into bankruptcy," said Yancey Ford, a former sales executive at RJR. "They got 50 new stockholders - big stockholders - called the states."

But the tobacco companies can't continue to operate under such a tumultuous legal landscape, said Phil Carlton, the Pinetops attorney who represented the industry during the settlement negotiations. If nothing else, there needs to be a limit on the amount of damages the industry would have to pay if it lost a smoking lawsuit, he said.

"That is still the missing element of this whole thing," he said. "And that's why there's no future until they can get something there. You just can't be very excited about the future. It's just that simple. The country's mood is very obvious now. If the country wants the public policy to be to put them in bankruptcy then that's OK. But that's what they need to think about."

The industry is awaiting the verdict in a landmark class-action lawsuit in Miami. A jury found in July that Philip Morris and other tobacco companies were liable for the injuries of as many as 1 million sick Florida smokers and ruled that the tobacco companies engaged in "extreme and outrageous conduct" in selling and marketing their products.

Some legal experts have estimated that the damages could approach $300 billion.

Other cases haven't gone the industry's way. A San Francisco jury in February awarded $51.5 million to a woman with inoperable lung cancer. It was the largest award ever granted to a plaintiff suing the tobacco industry until a month later when an Oregon jury awarded $81 million to the family of a dead smoker.

Both awards were later reduced by half but were still unprecedented. In 40 years of litigation, the tobacco companies had lost only three other trials, all of which were overturned.

The Florida case likely will not be decided before the end of the year. And come 2000, the industry will still be tied up with more than 600 lawsuits.The U.S. Justice Department also wants a piece of the pie. It filed a lawsuit in September, charging the industry with fraud and deceit and seeking to recover the billions spent treating smokers since 1954.

Given the legal uncertainties, G. Dee Smith is less sanguine about RJR's survival as a publicly owned company. "I think they'll probably always stay in existence," said Smith, a retired RJR executive. "But I think their profitability will be so small that it won't be a viable company much longer."

A Strong No. 2

Philip Morris began its meteoric rise in the mid-1960s and overtook RJR as the country's leading tobacco company in 1983.

Put aside for a moment all the moralism about tobacco marketing and look at Philip Morris just as a competitor within an industry. It is one fearsome company -- a brand bully much like an Anheuser-Busch or even a Microsoft. Philip Morris has increased its domestic market share to just under 50 percent, while Reynolds, its nearest competitor, has dropped to 24 percent. About one out of every three cigarettes sold in the United States is a Marlboro.

Schindler concedes that the race is over. "I don't even think about that," he said. "They have one brand that is 12 share points bigger than this whole company. . . . You've got to recognize where you sit in the game. Three years ago we said our strategy was to be a strong No. 2, and some people in the company didn't like that. They wanted to be No. 1. Well, if the company became No. 1 some day, fine. But this isn't about being No. 1. It's about being competitive. It's about increasing your earnings, being strong in the marketplace, rewarding your shareholders and all that stuff. The problem with aspiring to be No. 1 with a situation like this is you start doing things you shouldn't be doing. You're looking for silver bullets and all that sort of stuff, and I think it's dangerous."

That's not to say that RJR will roll over. It and two other tobacco companies won a preliminary injunction against Philip Morris in June after complaining in U.S. District Court in Greensboro that the company was trying to monopolize prime retail space with a program that encourages retailers to prominently display its brands. Philip Morris is appealing. Domestic volume plummeted this year to about 420 billion cigarettes, about 9 percent below 1998, as cigarette companies raised prices to help pay for the tobacco settlement. Reynolds' volume will be about 105 billion, and there's a good chance that production next year will fall below 100 billion, the lowest level in 45 years. As volume continues to drop, the company has said that cigarette-making may stop at Whitaker Park, which opened in 1961 to meet the demand for Winston and Salem. A year ago, it laid off 1,300 employees to cut costs and bring its work force in line with cigarette demand.

RJR hasn't given up on increasing its market share. Its top brands -- Winston, Salem, Camel and Doral -- are what it calls "investment brands." The others -- including Vantage, More and Now -- are the second-tier products. Schindler and his management team have worked hard to stabilize the big four. Camel's market share is up. Doral and Salem are holding steady. Winston stopped a 25-year slide in 1998 with its "No Bull" ad campaign, but slipped a little this year.

"The question of whether you can grow market share has to do with the power of the idea," Schindler said.

Saying Thanks

RJR's ideas take a lot of different directions, but most revolve around two basic strategies: keeping its customers loyal and targeting its marketing toward today's smokers, who tend to be less-educated and more blue-collar than society as a whole.

This September, for example, it sponsored a Doral Homecoming at its Tobaccoville factory, a big party to say thanks to the smokers who've made Doral RJR's top brand. The road along the back of the factory is called Doral Drive. Camel, Winston and Salem may have built the company, but a discount brand with a 6.3 percent market share now calls the shots.

Some 3,000 people from across the United States showed up to eat hamburgers, tour the factory and hear Alabama play country music. As one appreciative smoker said: "You've got to die of something. Might as well enjoy it. I look at it like this, they're giving me some of my money back."

A few weeks later, RJR helped sponsor a very different event: the 1999 National Miss Gay USofA At-Large Pageant in Indianapolis. It was four days of drag queens, courtesy of Camel, and underscores the battle being waged at bars and nightclubs around the country. In many major cities, Philip Morris, Reynolds and Brown & Williamson have formed marketing alliances with different clubs. It's all part of an effort to find smokers where they smoke, and keep smoking a hip, cool past-time of young adults.

Philip Morris' Marlboro campaign is still about cowboys and wide-open spaces. RJR's advertising is edgier, and more irreverent. It shows the influence of being the underdog in second place. The smokers in the Winston ads aren't cowboys who looked like they walked off a Ralph Lauren shoot. They're average folks, looking for a little honesty in the world and, hopefully, their cigarettes. Camel's "Mighty Tasty" campaign made fun of lawyers and snooty rich people. The current campaign focuses around the theme "Pleasure to Burn." One ad features a sultry woman wearing a skimpy dress and holding a cigarette in one hand and a TV clicker in the other.

Listening to some industry analysts, people can get the perception that cigarettes, because of the marketing restrictions imposed by the settlement, will become a commodity. Big brands will lock in their market share for good. That was also the theory heard 29 years ago, when the TV ban took effect, and RJR found out the hard way what nonsense it was.

"It doesn't make sense that there will be no more innovation, no more opportunity to intervene and get market share for somebody," Schindler said. "I think it's there. I think it's obviously tougher than if you were in a normal category, and you have access to all different media. My view is that the product will be around. I think, going forward, there will be innovation in this category. . . . It's hard for me to believe that 10 years from now this product will be exactly the same in the future as it is today."

By "innovation," he's talking about a technological breakthrough that would allow RJR to produce a demonstrably less-hazardous cigarette. The company, for instance, recently announced a program to help farmers change the way they cure tobacco to reduce nitrosamines in flue-cured tobacco. The chemical compound in high doses causes cancer in some lab animals. It isn't likely that this shift will give Reynolds a marketing edge; other companies are following suit.

RJR hasn't given up on its "safer" cigarettes. Premier was a flop when it ws released in 1988. Its successor, Eclipse, is being tested in limited markets. Both generate virtually no tar and a small fraction of the hazardous compounds in tobacco smoke.

RJR was careful not to make any health claims for Eclipse or Premier. Doing so would have invited a review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has asked the Supreme Court to determine if it has the power to regulate nicotine as a drug.

"Their long-term opposition to any federal regulation means that any effort to innovate, whether sincere or not, is going to take place in an atmosphere of open hostility, where neither side trusts the other, neither side is willing to believe the other," Myers said.

So where does all this go? Myers agrees with Schindler on one point: Cigarettes will be with us for some time. Nearly 50 million Americans still smoke, despite more than 40 years of warnings about the hazards of their habit. Banning cigarettes, Myers knows, isn't practical. "I used to say to the industry people during the negotiations, which I'm sure they loved, `Maybe you can produce a product that kills, maybe you can produce a product that addicts, but you can't produce a product that both kills and addicts,' " he said.

In Myer's view of the future, the cigarette industry will be regulated by the FDA much as the drug industry is today. The federal government would force the tobacco companies to make safer, low-tar and low-nicotine cigarettes. The companies would have severe limitations on advertising. The idea, Myers said, is "to encourage the creation of and bring to the marketplace products that might kill many, many fewer people, with marketing restrictions so they wouldn't turn into the next generation of low-tar cigarettes more designed to attract many new people to the marketplace."

Banning tobacco isn't part of Donald Shopland's vision of the future. The co-author of many of the surgeon generals' reports on smoking for the U.S. Public Health Service, Shopland is disturbed by the steady rate of smoking among America's teen-agers. Though adult smoking in the United States has steadily declined, smoking among youngsters under 18 has just started to slowly fall after rising in the early 1990s. Still, more than one-third of high-school students are smoking by the time they graduate.

Shopland had hoped by now to see the smoking rate fall to single digits. "But what we want to do is get the rates down as far as you possibly can to where it (smoking) becomes a social custom practiced behind closed doors," Shopland said.

Sneaking a smoke in the house like some drug addict isn't what Charles Blixt or the 8,000 other RJR employees have in mind. "The people who work for this company and work for this industry work under a constant daily assault," said Blixt, RJR's general counsel. "They have a lot of pride in what they do. They believe in the product they sell. They believe that people ought to have the right to use this product and get awfully tired after a while for being continually condemned for it. This is a product that has a long history in this country. It's something that people get enjoyment out of using and we're committed to providing the best tobacco products that we can.

"People really feel good about working for this company. They're committed to this company and it's a real travesty that they get castigated for being a part of what has been characterized as this cabal and that they can't go to work every day and feel good about what they do."

Schindler is more introspective. He is 55, and when he retires, he would be satisfied knowing that he left a strong company whose employees weren't afraid for their jobs. The history and past glory are just that. Reynolds used to be atop the industry. "So what?" Schindler said. "You have to be careful about that."

Schindler is a link to that past at Reynolds, the first executive to run the tobacco company in more than 20 years who came up through the ranks, the way it used to be done. He never sold underwear, or toothpaste or liquor. Except for a year with Nabisco in 1988, he's never worked for a company Reynolds bought with the profits from tobacco.

"This grand experiment officially began in April 1970, when they formed R.J. Reynolds Industries. So I've been here for 25 of this almost 30-year experience. I like to say I'm the last senior person in the company who lived through the whole thing."

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British American Tobacco - BAT Completes Acquisition of Reynolds

Quick navigation, news release, bat completes acquisition of reynolds.

British American Tobacco p.l.c. ( "BAT" or the "Company" ) is pleased to announce today the completion of the acquisition of the remaining 57.8% of Reynolds American Inc. ( "Reynolds" ) the Company did not already own.

The acquisition creates a stronger, global tobacco and Next Generation Products company committed to delivering sustained long-term profit growth and returns. BAT now has a balanced presence in high growth emerging markets and high profitability developed markets, combined with direct access to the attractive US market. Increased access to a significant proportion of Group cash flows provides further support to the Company’s continued commitment to a dividend payout ratio of at least 65% and a strong financial profile, targeting a solid investment grade credit rating through progressive deleveraging.

BAT’s Chief Executive, Nicandro Durante commented:

“This is a transformational deal. We will take the best of the best from both businesses across all areas to create a stronger, more sustainable company. We are pleased to welcome Reynolds group employees to British American Tobacco and look forward to progressing what we are confident will be a smooth integration. Work has already begun to realise the projected cost synergies and we are committed to driving continued, sustainable profit growth and returns for shareholders long into the future.”

Completion of the acquisition

  • Reynolds shareholders will receive for each Reynolds share $29.44 in cash, without interest, and 0.5260 BAT ordinary shares which shall be represented by BAT American Depositary Shares ( "BAT ADSs" ).
  • Reynolds shares no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange ( "NYSE" ) and will be delisted from the NYSE as soon as practicable.
  • All BAT ADSs, including those issued to Reynolds shareholders in connection with the acquisition, will be listed on the NYSE today under the trading symbol “BTI”.
  • the premium segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange Main Market for Listed Securities at 8am on 26 July 2017; and
  • the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange at 8am (South Africa time) on 26 July 2017.
  • The appointment of Lionel L. Nowell, III, Holly Keller Koeppel and Luc Jobin to the BAT Board of Directors, announced on 21 July 2017 is effective.

In accordance with the FCA Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules ( "DTR" ), subsequent to this share issue, the Company's issued share capital consists of 2,456,151,496 ordinary shares. The number of ordinary shares held in treasury is 162,645,590. Therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 2,293,505,906.

This figure, 2,293,505,906, may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the DTR.

British American Tobacco Press Office +44 (0) 20 7845 2888 (24 hours)  | @BATPress

British American Tobacco Investor Relations Mike Nightingale / Rachael Brierley / Sabina Marshman +44 (0) 20 7845 1180 / 1519/ 1781

FTI Consulting (UK PR agency) John Waples: +44 (0)20 3727 1515 Edward Bridges: +44 (0)20 3727 1067 David Waller: +44 (0)20 3727 1651

Sard Verbinnen & Co. (US PR agency) US: George Sard / Jim Barron: +1 212 687 8080 UK: Elizabeth Smith: +44 (0)20 3178 8914

Centerview Partners UK: Nick Reid / Hadleigh Beals: +44 (0)207 409 9700 US: Blair Effron: +1 212 380 2650

Deutsche Bank UK: Nigel Meek / James Ibbotson Matt Hall / Jimmy Bastock (Corporate Broking) +44 (0)207 545 8000 US: James Stynes: +1 212 250 2500

UBS John Woolland / James Robertson David Roberts/ Alia Malik (corporate broking) +44 (0)207 568 1000

NOTES TO EDITORS

BAT is a global tobacco group with brands sold in more than 200 markets. It employs more than 50,000 people worldwide and has over 200 brands in its portfolio, with its cigarettes chosen by around one in eight of the world’s one billion smokers. BAT has market leading positions in at least 55 markets around the world.  The Group generated £5 billion adjusted profit from operations in 2016.

Centerview Partners, Deutsche Bank and UBS are acting as financial advisers to BAT. Deutsche Bank and UBS are joint corporate brokers to BAT and acting as joint sponsors to BAT in relation to the transaction described in this announcement.  Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP and Herbert Smith Freehills LLP are acting for BAT as US and UK legal counsel respectively.  PwC are acting as accountants and advisors to BAT on the transaction described in this announcement.

Centerview Partners UK LLP (“Centerview Partners”) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom.  Centerview Partners is acting exclusively for BAT and no one else in connection with the transaction described in this announcement.  Centerview Partners will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the transaction described in this announcement and will not be responsible to any person other than BAT for providing the protections afforded to clients of Centerview Partners or for providing advice in relation to the transaction described in this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

Deutsche Bank AG is authorised under German Banking Law (competent authority: European Central Bank) and, in the United Kingdom, by the Prudential Regulation Authority. It is subject to supervision by the European Central Bank and by BaFin, Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, and is subject to limited regulation in the United Kingdom by the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. Details about the extent of its authorisation and regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority, and regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority, are available on request or from www.db.com/en/content/eu_disclosures.htm.

Deutsche Bank AG, acting through its London branch (“DB London”), and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (“DBSI” and with DB London, “DB”) are acting as joint financial adviser and DB London is acting as joint corporate broker and joint sponsor to BAT. DB are acting exclusively for BAT and no one else in connection with the transaction described in this announcement. DB will not regard any other person as their client in relation to the transaction described in this announcement and will not be responsible to any person other than BAT for providing the protections afforded to clients of DB or for providing advice in relation to the transaction described in this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

UBS Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority in the United Kingdom. UBS Limited is acting exclusively for BAT and no one else in connection with the transaction described in this announcement. UBS Limited will not regard any other person as its client in relation to the transaction described in this announcement and will not be responsible to any person other than BAT for providing the protections afforded to clients of UBS Limited or for providing advice in relation to the transaction described in this announcement or any other matter referred to herein.

Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed on it by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, none of Centerview Partners, DB or UBS Limited accepts any responsibility whatsoever and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the contents of this announcement, including its accuracy, fairness, sufficiency, completeness or verification or for any other statement made or purported to be made by it, or on its behalf, in connection with BAT or the transaction described in this announcement, and nothing in this announcement is, or shall be relied upon as, a promise or representation in this respect, whether as to the past or the future. Each of Centerview Partners, DB and UBS Limited accordingly disclaims to the fullest extent permitted by law all and any responsibility and liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise (save as referred to above) which it might otherwise have in respect of this announcement.

For further information

A copy of this announcement will be made available, subject to certain jurisdiction restrictions, on BAT's website at BATReynolds.transactionannouncement.com. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of this website is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement.

Overseas jurisdictions

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in or into jurisdictions other than the United States, the United Kingdom or South Africa may be restricted by law and therefore any persons who are subject to the law of any jurisdiction other than the United States, the United Kingdom or South Africa should inform themselves about, and observe, any applicable legal or regulatory requirements. Any failure to comply with the applicable restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the companies and persons involved in the transaction disclaim any responsibility or liability for the violation of such restrictions by any person.

Copies of this announcement and formal documentation relating to the transaction will not be and must not be, mailed or otherwise forwarded, distributed or sent in, into or from any jurisdiction outside of the United States, the United Kingdom and South Africa where such distribution, publication, availability or use would be contrary to law or regulation or which would require any registration or licensing within such jurisdiction. Doing so may render invalid any related purported vote in respect of the transaction.

Forward looking statements

Certain statements in this communication that are not historical facts are “forward-looking” statements made within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “could,” “may,” “would,” “should,” “intend,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “will,” “expect,” “estimate,” “project,” “positioned,” “strategy,” “outlook” and similar expressions. All such forward-looking statements involve estimates and assumptions that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual future financial condition, performance and results to differ materially from the plans, goals, expectations and results expressed in the forward-looking statements and other financial and/or statistical data within this communication. Among the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements are uncertainties related to the following: the failure to realize contemplated synergies and other benefits from mergers and acquisitions, including the merger of Reynolds and BAT; the effect of mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, including the merger of Reynolds and BAT, on BAT’s operating results and businesses generally; the ability to maintain credit ratings; changes in the tobacco industry and stock market trading conditions; changes or differences in domestic or international economic or political conditions; changes in tax laws and rates; the impact of adverse legislation and regulation; the ability to develop, produce or market new alternative products profitably; the ability to effectively implement strategic initiatives and actions taken to increase sales growth; the ability to enhance cash generation and pay dividends; adverse litigation and dispute outcomes; and changes in the market position, businesses, financial condition, results of operations or prospects of BAT.

Additional information concerning these and other factors can be found in BAT’s and Reynolds’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including Reynolds’s most recent Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K and BAT’s registration statement on Form F-4, which was declared effective by the SEC on June 14, 2017, and Current Reports on Form 6-K, which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website, http://www.sec.gov, and BAT’s Annual Reports, which may be obtained free of charge from BAT’s website www.BAT.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the date hereof and BAT undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements or other data or statements contained within this communication, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Non-solicitation

This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirement under Section 5 of the Securities Act.

This communication should not be construed as, investment advice and is not intended to form the basis of any investment decision, nor does it form the basis of any contract for acquisition or investment in any member of the BAT group, financial promotion or any offer, invitation or recommendation in relation to any acquisition of, or investment in, any member of the BAT group.

If you are in any doubt about the contents of this announcement or the action you should take, you are recommended to seek your own independent personal financial advice immediately from your stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant, fund manager or other appropriate independent financial adviser duly authorised under the UK Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (as amended) if you are resident in the United Kingdom or, if not, from another appropriately authorised independent financial adviser.

NYSE: BTI$29.36 (-1.41)

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

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rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Reynolds Brands: Unmatched Portfolio Diversity for Adult Tobacco and Nicotine Preferences

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Our operating companies offer a wide range of products to address the evolving preferences of adult tobacco and nicotine consumers.

Their consumer-centric brand portfolio contains product brands VUSE (vapor) and VELO (modern oral). Our non-combustible portfolio also contains Grizzly (traditional oral).

Their main combustible brands are Newport, Natural American Spirit, Camel, Pall Mall, and Lucky Strike.

Our Operating Companies

Close-up of boxes of Reynolds' vapor brand on a store shelf.

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company

R.J. Reynolds Vapor Company (RJRV) offers innovative products for adult tobacco consumers’ evolving preferences. RJRV’s product portfolio reflects a commitment to leading the charge on transforming tobacco by developing a diverse portfolio of responsibly marketed, innovative and enjoyable products for adult tobacco consumers.

RJRV’s industry leading vapor brand, VUSE, leverages innovative technologies to deliver a range of vapor products that meet the evolving preferences of adult tobacco consumers. VUSE’s portfolio includes four products in a range of formats and nicotine strengths to provide options for adult smokers seeking an alternative to combustible cigarettes.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Modoral Brands, Inc.

Modoral Brands, Inc. (Modoral) provides choice for adult nicotine consumers and empowers them to choose a nicotine option that best reflects their lifestyles. Modoral’s VELO Nicotine Lozenges and VELO Nicotine Pouches offer a variety of product formats and flavors that reflect a deep understanding of adult nicotine consumers’ modern-day lives.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, Inc.

Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company (SFNTC) is the manufacturer and marketer of Natural American Spirit cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco products. The Natural American Spirit brand consists of 15 cigarette styles and four roll-your-own styles.

SFNTC blenders create its cigarette blends and roll-your-own tobacco blends using two ingredients: whole-leaf tobacco and water. Natural American Spirit also makes certain styles of Natural American Spirit cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco using U.S.-grown, certified-organic tobacco.

American Snuff Company, LLC

ASC, headquartered in Tennessee, has been the fastest growing smokeless tobacco product manufacturer over the past decade, with Grizzly, its flagship brand, becoming one of the best-selling brands in the category. At various points in its history, ASC has held the number one brand of dry snuff, loose leaf, plug, twist, moist snuff and moist snuff pouch.

ASC traces its lineage back to 1782. Among its many achievements, ASC is the proud owner of the Garrett Scotch Snuff trademark—the seventh trademark issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 1870—and the only one of the seven that has remained in continuous production in the U.S.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) is the second-largest U.S. tobacco company. RJRT’s cigarette brands constitute about one third of cigarette sales in the United States. The company offers products in all segments of the cigarette market and makes many of the nation’s best-selling cigarette brands, including Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and Lucky Strike.

RJRT also distributes Camel Snus, a modern, smoke-free tobacco product.

Logo compilation of RJ Reynolds' brands.

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US jury slams RJ Reynolds with $23.6B in damages

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MIAMI (AP) — A Florida jury has slammed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. — the No. 2 cigarette maker in the U.S. — with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 1996.

The case is one of thousands filed in Florida after the state Supreme Court in 2006 tossed out a $145 billion class action verdict. That ruling also said smokers and their families need only prove addiction and that smoking caused their illnesses or deaths.

Last year, Florida’s highest court re-approved that decision, which made it easier for sick smokers or their survivors to pursue lawsuits against tobacco companies without having to prove to the court again that Big Tobacco knowingly sold dangerous products and hid the hazards of cigarette smoking.

The damages a Pensacola jury awarded Friday to Cynthia Robinson after a four-week trial come in addition to $16.8 million in compensatory damages.

Robinson individually sued Reynolds in 2008 on behalf of her late husband, Michael Johnson Sr. Her attorneys said the punitive damages are the largest of any individual case stemming from the original class action lawsuit.

“The jury wanted to send a statement that tobacco cannot continue to lie to the American people and the American government about the addictiveness of and the deadly chemicals in their cigarettes,” said one of the woman’s attorneys, Christopher Chestnut.

Reynolds’ vice president and assistant general counsel, J. Jeffery Raborn, called the damages in Robinson’s case “grossly excessive and impermissible under state and constitutional law.”

“This verdict goes far beyond the realm of reasonableness and fairness, and is completely inconsistent with the evidence presented,” Raborn said in a statement. “We plan to file post-trial motions with the trial court promptly, and are confident that the court will follow the law and not allow this runaway verdict to stand.”

The lawsuit’s goal was to stop tobacco companies from targeting children and young people with their advertising, said Willie Gary, another attorney representing Robinson.

“If we don’t get a dime, that’s OK, if we can make a difference and save some lives,” Gary said.

The verdict comes the same week that Reynolds American Inc., which owns R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, announced it was purchasing Lorillard Tobacco Co., the country’s No. 3 cigarette maker, in a $25 billion deal. That would create a tobacco company second only in the U.S. to Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc., which owns Philip Morris USA Inc.

The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2015 and likely will face regulatory scrutiny.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court turned away cigarette manufacturers’ appeals of more than $70 million in court judgments to Florida smokers. Reynolds, Philip Morris USA Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. had wanted the court to review cases in which smokers won large damage awards without having to prove that the companies sold a defective and dangerous product or hid the risks of smoking.

The Supreme Court refused to hear another of the companies’ appeals last year, wanting the court to consider overturning a $2.5 million Tampa jury verdict in the death of a smoker.

Other Florida juries have hit tobacco companies with tens of millions of dollars in punitive damages in lawsuits stemming from the original class action lawsuit.

In August, a Fort Lauderdale jury awarded $37.5 million, including $22.5 million in punitive damages against Reynolds, to the family of a smoker who died at age 38 of lung cancer in 1995.

Attorneys for Reynolds said they would appeal, arguing that the woman knew the dangers of smoking because cigarettes had warning labels when she started. The attorney for the woman’s family said teenagers like her were targeted by tobacco companies.

Some large jury verdicts awarding tens of millions of dollars in damages to relatives of smokers have been upheld by appeals courts.

Follow Jennifer Kay on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jnkay.

rj reynolds tobacco company tour

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THE KUBZ HOTEL

Hotel space.

We offer you a virtual walk through our hotel located in Krasnogorsk, 700 meters from the Crocus Expo exhibition center. There are three options for capsules for sleeping and relaxing (there is a separate 6-bed female room), a cozy kitchen, a dining area and a lounge area. Immerse yourself right now in the atmosphere of coziness and comfort that employees of TheKubz capsule hotel have created for you.

Our district

Common areas

Capsule hotel

  • Single or double bed with natural latex orthopedic mattress;
  • Individual air ventilation system, which allows to customize the atmosphere (air inflow and exhaust);
  • Individual lighting in each capsule;
  • Electrical outlet for mobile devices;
  • Clothes hangers and storage compartments;
  • Free Wi-Fi.

The peculiarity of such type of accommodation is the price. The price for accommodation in the capsule starts from 900 rubles per night. To date, rooms with such prices are almost impossible to book in the hotels of Moscow and Moscow region. That is why THE KUBZ capsule hotel is an excellent option for both Russian and foreign clients who plan a budget vacation in Moscow. The point is to timely book a hotel.

How to book a capsule in the hotel at a low price?

We advise booking a capsule in advance because it gives confidence that the hotel will accurately offer you a capsule for the desired period at the most favorable rate. The accommodation price can be found on the THE KUBZ website in the online booking module, you can also write or call us. The capsules are divided into several categories: Women’s room for 6 capsules:

  • Single Capsule (bed 90×200);
  • Single Capsule with a window (bed 90×200).

Common room for 6 or 8 capsules:

  • Single Superior Capsule (bed size 120×200);
  • Double Capsule (bed size 140×200);
  • Double Capsule with a window (bed size 140×200).

To book a capsule of the desired category, enter the online booking module or contact the hotel manager by phone, via e-mail or leave a booking request on THE KUBZ website. The price for accommodation will be specified while booking a capsule, so there will be no problems upon check-in. The capsule hotel in Moscow also provides a wide range of related free services, so the price for accommodation may seem doubly profitable. Thus, the visitor of each capsule can connect to a Wi-Fi network, have coffee and tea at any time of the day, use clean towels and personal care accessories. Thus, the prices in the capsule hotel can be considered minimal, since accommodation in a capsule allows not only to book a cozy place for rest, but also to get a large number of free high-quality extra services. In addition, the largest entertainment, shopping and cultural facilities in Moscow are located within walking distance from the hotel. You can visit a concert in the Crocus City Hall, wander through the exhibition halls of the Crocus Expo, buy a ticket to the Moscow aquarium or enjoy a fascinating shopping in the Vegas Mall with low prices for consumer goods. At the same time, you can quickly return to the hotel in case you need rest. Visitors of THE KUBZ hotel post reviews on the website stressing both the European level service and the possibility to book a capsule of the desired category without overpayments. Our capsule hotel offers quite moderate prices for accommodation, polite and correct attitude to each client and the chance to book a capsule for the desired period.

The KUBZ capsule hotel is located in Krasnogorsk, 700 meters from the Crocus Expo exhibition center, the Crocus City Concert Hall, Myakinino metro station, VEGAS shopping centre and the Oceanarium, within walking distance from SNEZHKOM year-round skiing complex and 6.5 kilometers away from OTKRITIE ARENA stadium (Spartak metro station). Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel.

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A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make these statements .

  • Health effects of smoking
  • Addictiveness of smoking and nicotine
  • Low tar and light cigarettes being as harmful as regular cigarettes
  • Designing cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine
  • Health effects of secondhand smoke
  • Para informatión en español, clic aqui

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

  • What We Make

Drive Brands

R.J. Reynolds focuses its marketing support on Camel and Pall Mall to accelerate the brands’ market-share growth and to drive the brands for long-term, accelerated growth and profit.

NewPmenthol85_2769-Edit85px

Newport is America’s #1 selling menthol cigarette brand and the second largest selling cigarette brand in the U.S. Launched in 1957, the brand is named after a Rhode Island seaport and today the iconic “spinnaker” brand mark remains a symbol of its early sailing heritage.

By 1993 the Newport brand had become the top selling menthol cigarette in the U.S. and in 1996 became the second largest selling cigarette brand in the industry. Today nearly one out of every three menthol cigarettes sold in the U.S. is a Newport.

Newport is committed to offering adult tobacco consumers smoking pleasure. The success of the Newport brand has allowed it to extend beyond its menthol heritage to offer non-menthol cigarettes with a uniquely rich and robust taste.

CamelFiltersCrushMenthol

For more than 100 years, Camel’s relentless pursuit of tobacco pleasure has produced some of the industry’s most groundbreaking and innovative tobacco products while earning the Camel brand iconic recognition. Introduced in 1913, Camel’s unique blend of flue-cured, burley and exotic Turkish tobaccos made it the nation’s number 1-selling brand in just four years.

Today, Camel’s commitment to quality tobacco experiences includes a new generation of tobacco products — innovations such as Camel Crush and Menthol with Cool Burst™ technology. This unyielding passion for tobacco is yet another reason why Camel remains R.J. Reynolds’ largest and fastest-growing full-price brand.

Rooted in authenticity yet ushering in the future, Camel’s colorful, irreverent personality captures the very spirit of adult tobacco consumers — inspiring them to Break Free from convention and enjoy tobacco on their own terms.

pallmalllights2432

Pall Mall was introduced in 1899 as one of the world’s first premium cigarettes and is one of only five brands to have ever reached market leadership status in the U.S. Pall Mall has a rich history of innovation and firsts over the past 115 years and counting. In 1939, Pall Mall launched the first “king-size” (85 millimeter) cigarette; in 1966 the brand launched the first 100-millimeter cigarette — both giving adult smokers more value without extra cost.

In 2001, the brand was re-launched as the “new filtered” Pall Mall — at a lower price point. Today, Pall Mall is packed tight with Premium Tobacco to deliver a smooth taste, slow burn and a longer-lasting smoking experience.

Pall Mall cigarettes provide adult smokers a longer-lasting cigarette at an attractive price, making it a leading cigarette brand once again. In fact, during the past two years, Pall Mall has been the fastest growing cigarette brand in the United States.

Other Brands

R.J. Reynolds puts limited marketing support behind these brands, focusing on balancing the brands’ scale and long-term profit.

doralff6633

Doral was introduced in 1969 and repositioned in 1984 as a savings brand, becoming the first branded cigarette to compete in the growing value segment. Doral quickly became — and continues to be — one of the leading savings brand in the United States.

mistyrev

Misty was introduced in 1990 as a value-priced brand in the slims segment. Misty rapidly grew to become the country’s leading value-priced slims brand, a position it holds today. Its combination of quality and affordability provides Misty a loyal base of consumers.

caprirev

Launched in 1987, Capri created a new segment in the U.S. cigarette industry – the “super slim” cigarette. Capri cigarettes are 17mm in circumference versus 23mm for a traditional “slim” cigarette. Capri’s “Luxury Length” 120mm styles soon followed, providing a unique product for adult smokers wishing to express their own personal style. With a premium tobacco blend and thin, stylish packaging Capri is the leading brand in the super slims segment.

Modern, Smoke-free Tobacco

With a rich history of innovation, Camel offers adult tobacco consumers another option for tobacco enjoyment: Camel SNUS. The modern, smoke-free tobacco product provides adult tobacco consumers a neater, more socially responsible way to enjoy tobacco pleasure without bothering others, as there is no second-hand smoke or need to spit.

snuswebf5361

Introduced nationally in 2009, Camel SNUS provides a great tasting, neater tobacco experience because it contains premium tobacco that is pouched, smoke-free and spit-free. Available in 6 styles, Camel SNUS comes in a unique metal tin that holds 15 pouches.

Transforming Tobacco

  • Our Leadership
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Adverse Health Effects of Smoking

A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make this statement about the health effects of smoking.

  • Smoking kills, on average, 1,200 Americans. Every day.
  • More people die every year from smoking than from murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes, and alcohol, combined .
  • Smoking causes heart disease, emphysema, acute myeloid leukemia, and cancer of the mouth, esophagus, larynx, lung, stomach, kidney, bladder, and pancreas.
  • Smoking also causes reduced fertility, low birth weight in newborns, and cancer of the cervix.

Addictiveness of Smoking and Nicotine

A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make this statement about the addictiveness of smoking and nicotine.

  • Smoking is highly addictive. Nicotine is the addictive drug in tobacco.
  • Cigarette companies intentionally designed cigarettes with enough nicotine to create and sustain addiction.
  • It's not easy to quit.

Lack of Significant Health Benefit from Smoking "Low Tar," "Light," "Ultra Light," Mild," and "Natural" Cigarettes

A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make this statement about low tar and light cigarettes being as harmful as regular cigarettes.

  • Many smokers switch to low tar and light cigarettes rather than quitting because they think low tar and light cigarettes are less harmful. They are not .
  • "Low tar" and "light" cigarette smokers inhale essentially the same amount of tar and nicotine as they would from regular cigarettes.
  • All cigarettes cause cancer, lung disease, heart attacks, and premature death – lights, low tar, ultra lights, and naturals. There is no safe cigarette.

Manipulation of Cigarette Design and Composition to Ensure Optimum Nicotine Delivery

A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make this statement about designing cigarettes to enhance the delivery of nicotine.

  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard intentionally designed cigarettes to make them more addictive.
  • Cigarette companies control the impact and delivery of nicotine in many ways, including designing filters and selecting cigarette paper to maximize the ingestion of nicotine, adding ammonia to make the cigarette taste less harsh, and controlling the physical and chemical make-up of the tobacco blend.
  • When you smoke, the nicotine actually changes the brain – that's why quitting is so hard.

Adverse Health Effects of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

A Federal Court has ordered R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, and Lorillard to make this statement about the health effects of secondhand smoke.

  • Secondhand smoke kills over 38,000 Americans each year.
  • Secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and coronary heart disease in adults who do not smoke.
  • Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, severe asthma, and reduced lung function.
  • There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Efectos adversos del tabaquismo para la salud

Una Corte Federal ha ordenado a R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard a realizar la siguiente declaración sobre los efectos del tabaquismo para la salud.

  • Fumar mata, en promedio, a 1200 estadounidenses. Cada día.
  • Más personas mueren cada año a consecuencia de fumar que por asesinatos, SIDA, suicidios, drogas, accidentes automovilísticos y alcohol, combinados .
  • Fumar causa enfermedades cardíacas, enfisema, leucemia mieloide aguda y cáncer de boca, esófago, laringe, pulmón, estómago, riñón, vejiga y páncreas.
  • Fumar también causa disminución de la fertilidad, bajo peso en recién nacidos y cáncer de cuello uterino.

Lo adictivo del fumar y de la nicotina

Una Corte Federal ha ordenado a R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard a realizar la siguiente declaración sobre lo adictivo del fumar y de la nicotina.

  • Fumar es altamente adictivo. La nicotina es la droga adictiva presente en el tabaco.
  • Las compañías fabricantes de cigarrillos intencionalmente diseñaron cigarrillos con suficiente nicotina para crear y mantener la adicción.
  • No es fácil dejar de fumar.
  • Cuando usted fuma, la nicotina de hecho provoca cambios en el cerebro – por eso es tan difícil dejar de fumar.

No hay un beneficio significativo para la salud al fumar cigarrillos "con bajo contenido de alquitrán", "lights", "ultra lights", "suaves" y "naturales"

Una Corte Federal ha ordenado a R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard a realizar la siguiente declaración de que los cigarrillos con bajo contenido de alquitrán y los cigarrillos "lights" son tan perjudiciales como los cigarrillos regulares.

  • Muchos fumadores cambian a cigarrillos con bajo contenido de alquitrán y a cigarrillos "lights" en vez de dejar de fumar porque piensan que los cigarrillos con bajo contenido de alquitrán y los cigarrillos "lights" son menos perjudiciales. No lo son.
  • Los fumadores de cigarrillos con "bajo contenido de alquitrán" y de cigarrillos "lights" inhalan básicamente la misma cantidad de alquitrán y de nicotina que inhalarían de cigarrillos regulares.
  • Todos los cigarrillos causan cáncer, enfermedades pulmonares, ataques al corazón y muerte prematura – sean "lights", con bajo contenido de alquitrán, "ultra lights", suaves o naturales. No hay cigarrillos seguros.

Manipulación del diseño y composición de los cigarrillos para garantizar un suministro óptimo de nicotina

Una Corte Federal ha ordenado a R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard a realizar la siguiente declaración sobre el diseño de los cigarrillos para intensificar el suministro de nicotina.

  • R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard han intencionalmente diseñado los cigarrillos para hacerlos más adictivos.
  • Las compañías fabricantes de cigarrillos controlan el impacto y el suministro de nicotina de muchas maneras, incluso en el diseño de filtros y en la selección del papel para cigarrillos con el fin de acrecentar al máximo la ingestión de nicotina, añadiendo amoníaco para hacer menos áspero el sabor de los cigarrillos y controlando la composición física y química de la mezcla del tabaco.

Efectos perjudiciales por la exposición al humo de tabaco ambiental para la salud

Una Corte Federal ha ordenado a R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Philip Morris USA, Altria, y Lorillard a realizar la siguiente declaración sobre los efectos del humo de tabaco ambiental para la salud.

  • El humo de tabaco ambiental mata a más de 38 000 estadounidenses cada año.
  • El humo de tabaco ambiental causa cáncer de pulmón y enfermedades coronarias en adultos que no fuman.
  • Los niños expuestos al humo de tabaco ambiental tienen un mayor riesgo de síndrome de muerte infantil súbita, infecciones respiratorias agudas, problemas de oído, asma grave y reducción de la función pulmonar.
  • No existen niveles seguros de exposición al humo de tabaco ambiental.

IMAGES

  1. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Revamped as Innovation Quarter

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  2. RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company Redaktionelles Stockbild

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  3. Digital Forsyth

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  4. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Buildings

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  6. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company HQ : r/winstonsalem

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VIDEO

  1. How to fix a loose mouth piece on a smoking pipe from James Barber Tobacconist

COMMENTS

  1. Factory Tours: Another Tobacco Victim\ After 80 Years R.j. Reynolds

    Edna Laird heard about the end at a staff meeting. After 80 years, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. would no longer offer tours of its cigarette factory as of Jan. 30.

  2. Museum & Historic House

    From Family Estate to Renowned Museum. Completed in 1917, Reynolda House Museum of American Art was originally the home of Katharine Smith and R.J. Reynolds, founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Promising a healthier lifestyle, the more than 34,000-square-foot historic home was the centerpiece of a 1,067-acre estate and model farm.

  3. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

    Building the Right Team. At R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company we emphasize finding innovative ways to operate within the framework of a principled approach to product development, manufacturing, marketing and selling. We offer a level of challenge, responsibility and creativity for motivated employees that stands apart from the crowd.

  4. Inside The Revamped R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Factory

    R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was keeping it local long before the trend was launched. They didn't just make cigarettes in their numbered downtown Winston-Salem plants. They made everything they needed to make the cigarettes, as well. Building 91 was the machine shop, built in 1937 to repair and create the machinery to sustain the ...

  5. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company Winston-Salem, NC

    The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company invites you to Winston-Salem, N.C., where you can enjoy free, personalized tours of this and other Company factories each working day or night. Famous products include Camel, Winston, Salem and Cavalier Cigarettes and Prince Albert and Carter Hall Smoking Tobaccos. OCR Text.

  6. Coming to Your Senses: History of Winston's Tobacco District

    The end result, "Making Sense of the Factory: Life at the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company," was revealed earlier in May at Wake Forest Biotech Place and will travel to several locations in Winston-Salem throughout 2016. Complementing the exhibit, three events will be held to help create conversation around this part of local history.

  7. Tour the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company

    COME TO WINSTON-SALEM, N. C., and enjoy a free, personalized tour of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company -makers of CAMEL, WINSTON, SALEM and CAVALIER Ciga- rettes, PRINCE ALBERT Smoking Tobacco, and other famous tobacco products. Visitors are welcome each working day and night.

  8. R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

    The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building.Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States (behind Altria).The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reynolds American, after merging with the U.S. operations of British ...

  9. Who killed heir to Reynolds tobacco fortune? Museum exhibit ...

    Richard Joshua Reynolds, born in 1850 on a tobacco plantation in Patrick County, Va., moved to the crossroads community of Winston in 1874 to start his own tobacco manufacturing company. He ...

  10. The Origins of the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company

    Produced by: Aaron Canipe About Reynolda:Reynolda, in Winston-Salem, NC, is a 53-year-old museum at the center of Reynolda's 170 acres. Reynolda House Museum...

  11. History

    In 1918, Richard Joshua Reynolds - Reynolds Tobacco's founder - died at the age of 68. In 1925, Brown & Williamson purchased J.G. Flynt Tobacco Co. and its trademarks, including the popular Sir Walter Raleigh smoking tobacco. The following year, the company bought R.P. Richardson Company, which had just started to market manufactured ...

  12. Lost empire: The fall of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company

    Reynolds Tobacco is a stronger company these days, Schindler said. He credits the $8 billion sale of the international tobacco company to Japan Tobacco. Much of the proceeds cleaned up RJR's ...

  13. British American Tobacco

    British American Tobacco p.l.c. ( "BAT" or the "Company" ) is pleased to announce today the completion of the acquisition of the remaining 57.8% of Reynolds American Inc. ( "Reynolds" ) the Company did not already own. The acquisition creates a stronger, global tobacco and Next Generation Products company committed to delivering sustained long-term profit growth and returns.

  14. Who We Are

    R.J. Reynolds is based in Winston-Salem, N.C. R.J. Reynolds' largest plant - Tobaccoville, a 2 million-square-foot facility constructed in 1986 - is located in the town of Tobaccoville, near Winston-Salem. The company also has tobacco-sheet manufacturing operations and a significant research-and-development facility in Winston-Salem.

  15. Pro Billiards Tour Ass'n, Inc. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

    Read Pro Billiards Tour Ass'n, Inc. v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 187 F.R.D. 229, see flags on bad law, and search Casetext's comprehensive legal database ... Plaintiff tape recorded the meeting with the knowledge of defendant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company's (" RJR" ) representatives. Defendant has submitted a Rule 34 request for production ...

  16. Reynolds Brands

    R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT) is the second-largest U.S. tobacco company. RJRT's cigarette brands constitute about one third of cigarette sales in the United States. The company offers products in all segments of the cigarette market and makes many of the nation's best-selling cigarette brands, including Newport, Camel, Pall Mall and ...

  17. US jury slams RJ Reynolds with $23.6B in damages

    MIAMI (AP) — A Florida jury has slammed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. — the No. 2 cigarette maker in the U.S. — with $23.6 billion in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the widow of a longtime smoker who died of lung cancer in 1996. MIAMI (AP) — A Florida jury has slammed the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. — the No. 2 cigarette maker ...

  18. Homepage

    The accommodation price can be found on the THE KUBZ website in the online booking module, you can also write or call us. The capsules are divided into several categories: Women's room for 6 capsules: Single Capsule (bed 90×200); Single Capsule with a window (bed 90×200). Common room for 6 or 8 capsules: Single Superior Capsule (bed size ...

  19. MOSKVA KARGO, OOO Company Profile

    Find company research, competitor information, contact details & financial data for MOSKVA KARGO, OOO of Khimki, Moscow region. Get the latest business insights from Dun & Bradstreet.

  20. About Us

    R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company was founded in 1875, when 25-year-old Richard Joshua Reynolds started a chewing-tobacco manufacturing operation in the town of Winston, N.C. (Winston would later merge with the nearby village of Salem, creating the city known today as Winston-Salem.) Around the same time, in the late 1870s, Brown Brothers Tobacco ...

  21. SFERA, OOO Company Profile

    Find company research, competitor information, contact details & financial data for SFERA, OOO of Khimki, Moscow region. Get the latest business insights from Dun & Bradstreet.

  22. LLC "AURORA TRAVEL" Company Profile

    Industry: Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services , Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services , Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services , Other Support Services , Travel agencies See All Industries, Tour operators, Advertising agencies, Radio, television, publisher representatives, Commercial photography Advertising ...

  23. What We Make

    R.J. Reynolds focuses its marketing support on Camel and Pall Mall to accelerate the brands' market-share growth and to drive the brands for long-term, accelerated growth and profit. Newport Newport is America's #1 selling menthol cigarette brand and the second largest selling cigarette brand in the U.S. Launched in 1957, the brand is named after […]