Cigarettes, Inc.: An Intimate History of Corporate Imperialism by Nan Enstad
I like outside. I like a well-maintained flower bed. I like a carefree wildflower patch. I like a vegetable garden with orderly rows. So, you can understand my confusion and disappointment when Cigarettes, Inc. was not the story of tobacco from seed to sale. I was expecting to examine the importance of tobacco to Native American traditions, how it was co-opted by the the colonizers, and the rise of the industry up through the medical warnings, and the transition to vapes. I was not expecting a transnational corporate history (with some social history thrown into the mix) about how society influenced and was influenced by the rise of tobacco companies.
This book is strongest when focusing on the social and cultural aspects of the tobacco industry (chapters 3, 5, and 6). Chapter 3 is what I was expecting the book to be about: farming. Enstad uses this chapter to showcase the work of Gregory, traveling around China to find current successful tobacco farms, and the locations that could be converted to growing bright leaf tobacco. “Seed, soil, cultivation practices, curing techniques, and climate were all variables that Gregory and his staff had to juggle to obtain a suitable leaf” (92-93). The success of this chapter lies not just in the farming, but in the transition to bringing a Southern home to China. Mrs. Gregory used her position to welcome new employees to the country, and to give them a taste of home away from home. However, the real selling point of this chapter is how Enstad addressed the question of segregation. “African Americans did not gain any positions with BAT-China, despite their expertise with bright leaf tobacco; their absence is one of the clues that the bright leaf network operated to produce a radicalized corporate structure and culture” (87). Despite their physical absence in China, the influence of African Americans was still felt, particularly in the homes. “Generations of black women, during and after slavery, created Southern cuisine as they cooked for both their own and white families” (114). Mrs. Gregory may have switched to employing Chinese domestic servants, but the influence of the Jim Crow South remained.
Chapter 5 takes a different road, but still succeeds because of the social and cultural focus. Here, the focus was on advertising. “In both China and the US, famous brands became part of the symbolic repertoire of the general public” (171). This chapter highlighted the success of Ruby Queens in China and both Camels and Lucky Strikes in the US. The companies did not use the same advertising methods, instead they relied on the expertise of their local managers to lead the advertising charges because “smoking was uniquely personal” (156). This led to the rise of two separate semi-professional Lucky Strike baseball teams, one for whites and one for African Americans. The Lucky Strike brand intentionally promoted the white team, but when the African American team started seeing success management reluctantly got on board despite the fact that “African Americans redirected the brand’s value to black men and African American culture” (183). Free advertising is free advertising, after all.
Chapter 6 was by far the strongest chapter in the book; it focused on the link between jazz and cigarettes. She takes us through the rise of cabarets in China to radio shows in the US and how “the association with jazz imbued cigarettes with sexiness and cool” (189). This chapter is, again, more people focused and she does not shy away from the racism prevalent in society as a whole, and the company specifically. “Because of jazz’s roots in African American culture, jazz dance was highly controversial among whites” (195). It is not surprising then, that when tobacco companies started sponsoring jazz shows on the radio, they insisted that only white musicians be played. China, though full of racial stereotypes of its own, did not exclude black jazz musicians. In fact, “Black musicians often described their work in Shanghai as free from racism because they could get high-class gigs and enjoyed wide popularity” (201). Chinese fans of jazz music felt like they were getting a true jazz experience. This chapter shines not only because of the people and societal focuses, but because of the comparison between the two countries.
The other chapters of the book are not near as strong. They are more corporate focused, and frankly, repetitive. Chapter 1 focused on the empire of tobacco and the transition from cigars, pipes, and chewing tobacco to cigarettes. This should have been interesting because of the focus on gentlemen’s clubs and Chinese courtesans, but it fell flat. “West End men became known as smokers of the cigarettes… the cigarettes became part of the clubmen’s public image, and the London clubs imbued charities with a particular character that came to be know outside the clubs as well” (25). This led to the comparison with China. “Pipe tobacco had been part of courtesan practices dating to the seventeenth century” (46). In chapter 1 we saw the influence of peer pressure, all the cool kids were doing it.
Like chapter 1, chapter 2 should have been interesting as it was focused on Ginter, his relationship with Pope, and how they built the ATC, as opposed to the commonly held belief that it was Duke. However, this chapter was focused on the business aspect and laid the groundwork for what will eventually be the Citizens United decision. “New Jersey incorporation law’s basic premise was that business corporations should be able to do virtually anything they wished” (68). This chapter was law, and by extension, detail heavy.
Enstad continued her corporate history in chapter 4, focusing on employment. She addressed race, class, and gender gaps, but does so in a way that almost eliminates the political aspects of them. We saw the rise in women and children in the tobacco industry. “An industry that hired girls when there were many white men who needed work provoked unease because it upset the idea of the white male breadwinner” (127). The issues continued into the specific departments of the factory where “leaf department jobs carried the lowest status and lowest pay. In the US, such work had been associated with African Americans since slavery… in China, BAT assigned women from a low-status northern province to stem” (131). Enstad found a way to make sexism bland when examined from the corporate lens.
You would think that exposure to different people and different cultures would cause individuals to change their world view. Enstad used chapter 7 to show how that change might be only temporary. She used one individual to show this conundrum. “China seemed promising to many young men from the US precisely because they saw the country as primitive, a frontier in need of a cowboy” (232). However, their arrival in China altered that idea. “The job did not match foreigners’ expectation of what modern global corporate representatives did in China, generating frustration and embarrassment” (235). Many were able to acclimate to the new environment and expectations, however, as they were leaving, they struggled to reconcile their expectations with their experiences and reasons for leaving, and reverted back to the initial stereotypes they began with.
Enstad concluded the book with a strong opening, focusing on the negative health impacts of cigarettes with a description of an art instillation. She returned to the corporate aspect to discuss the impact of ATC and BAT, particularly in Citizens Unites, which she had been alluding to throughout the book, if you were paying attention.
Enstad is a very detail oriented writer. If you prefer your history told as a story, she is not for you. However, if you like detail and nuance, she is right up your alley. If you want just a social (or cultural) take, you will be disappointed. This book, and the history of the cigarette, alternates between corporate and social history with neither being the complete focus. Because the history of cigarettes specifically, and tobacco in general, is still ongoing she leaves the reader with the idea that corporate history is unfinished, but with a reminder that people are at the center of corporations.
