Cigarette manufacturing machineIn 1876, a patent for the first U.S. cigarette manufacturing machine was issued to Albert Hook of New York City (No. 184,207). The Hook machine was invented in 1872, but did not come into practical commercial use until 1882. It produced a continuous cigarette of indefinite length, to be cut into individual cigarettes. Tobacco was fed onto a ribbon of paper. The paper passed over a gummed wheel as it was drawn off its spool. According revenue collection figures, the number of cigarettes manufactured in 1875 was only 50 million. |