Cigarette brands from the 1950s - UK
Tobacco consumption in Britain was at its highest just after the Second World War. But cigarettes were rationed and tobacco leaf was in short supply. There were queues and some people switched brands to find something to smoke.
Wild Woodbine made by Wills, a branch of Imperial Tobacco, was Britain's most popular cigarette in the 1940s. To save tobacco Wills launched Woodbine Filter and Capstan Filter in 1949. Filter cigarettes used less tobacco. They were also cheaper as tax on cigarettes was calculated by the weight of tobacco.
To make matters worse the pound was devalued against the dollar in 1949. Tobacco from Virgina in the USA was an important ingredient in the blends used for cigarettes in the UK.
Tobacco rationing ended in the UK in 1955. Woodbine was still Britain's number one cigarette and Player's Medium was second. Player's was another branch of Imperial Tobacco. But Player's and Wills acted in competition.
The most popular cigarette brands in the 1955 in the UK were:
- Wills Wild Woodbine
- Player's Medium (Player's Navy)
- Player's Weights
- Wills Capstan
- Senior Service
- Park Drive
- Wills Gold Flake
Interpreted from graphical presentation in 'WD & HO Wills and the Development of the UK Tobacco Industry', by B W W Alford, published 1973 by W & J Mackay, page 423
The market was split into three types of cigarette called Class 'A', Class 'B' and Class 'C'. Class 'A' were small, cheap cigarettes. Wills Wild Woodbine, Player's Weights and Park Drive were the most popular. Class 'B' were larger cigarettes. They had a middle-class appeal. The three most popular of these brands had an association was the Navy or sailors. Player's Medium had the famous sailor with a beard on the pack. Senior Service (a term for the Royal Navy) and Capstan both had a naval theme. The fictional spy, James Bond, smoked Senior Service when he couldn't get hold of this favourite blend.
Class 'C' were larger, more expensive cigarettes. Wills Passing Clouds was an example. Their market share was tiny.
Filter brands
As in the USA, British smokers were switching to filter brands. In 1955 filter cigarettes amounted to just 2% of the cigarette market.
In 1955, Britain's top-selling filter brand was Du Maurier. Du Maurier were expensive cigarettes with an upmarket and feminine image. Lower down the scale was Player's Bachelor and 'tipped' versions of regular brands.
By 1959 filter cigarettes took 12% of the UK cigarette market.
The motivation to switch to filter was financial, not medical. Although the risks of smoking had reached some of the UK population in the 1950s, many chose filter cigarettes because they were cheaper.
Wills launched Bristol in 1955 to get a bigger slice of this market. It was not a great success. They had better luck with Embassy in the following decade.
Kenistas Filter re-introduced cigarette coupons to the UK, for the first time since the 1930s.
The top filter brands from 1960 were:
- Player's Bachelor (pre-war brand)
- Kensitas Tipped (launched 1957)
- Nelson (launched 1960)
- Wills Bristol (launched 1955)
- Woodbine Tipped (launched 1949)
- Olivier (launched 1956)
The other trend that started in the 1950s was king-size cigarettes. By 1959 they accounted for 1% of the market. The leading brand was Rothman's King Size Filter, launched in 1956.
Read more:
Cigarette smoking in the 1950s - USA
Cigarette brands in the 1960s - UK
Cigarette brands in the 1980s - UK
By Steven Braggs, October 2023
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