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Richard Joshua Reynolds sets up shop
Richard Joshua Reynolds, then age 24, purchased a 100-foot lot on what was Depot Street in Winston, N.C. Reynolds had just arrived after divesting himself of his father's chewing tobacco business in Patrick County, Va. -
'The Old Red Factory' opens
Reynolds opens his first factory for the production of plug chewing tobacco in Winston, N.C. That first year, the factory operates at capacity, producing 150,000 pounds of chewing tobacco. -
Chewing tobacco brands grow
By 1886, one popular tobacco brand directory listed R.J. Reynolds as having 86 different brands of chewing tobacco, including one of its most popular, George Washington. -
RJR chew takes off
An advertisment in a Roanoke, Va., newspaper proclaims two brands of Reynolds chewing tobacco, Level Best and Pocket Piece, to be "the most popular chewing tobaccos that are offered." -
First smoking tobacco
Despite the fact that the chewing tobacco business was booming, Reynolds and others began branching out into the smoking business. In May 1895, Reynolds published prices for three brands of smoking tobacco, Our Advertiser, Split Silk and Razor Back. -
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Reynolds leads in chewing tobacco
Between 1899 and 1911, R.J. Reynolds grew to a point where it controlled 90 percent of the plug chewing tobacco business in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. -
Prince Albert smoking tob.
The popularity of smokeless tobacco declined significantly during the first decade of the 20th Century, as smoking tobacco began to be increasingly popular. Reynolds tapped into this growing popularity with the introduction of the first smoking tobacco, Prince Albert, that presented broad national appeal. -
Diverse tobacco company
As late as 1938, Reynolds marketed 84 brands of chewing tobacco, 12 brands of smoking tobacco and only one cigarette of note, Camel. -
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RJRT gets out of chew
Reynolds began to deemphasize chewing tobacco and by 1960, cigarettes accounted for more than 96 percent of the company's net sales. The remaining 4 percent was primarily in the form of roll-your-own smoking tobacco. -
Back in the smokeless business
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) purchased Conwood Co., the No. 2 U.S. manufacturer of smokeless tobacco. Conwood manufactures Grizzly and Kodiak brands of moist snuff. This action marked Reynolds return to smokeless tobacco after nearly 50 years as primarily a cigarette company. -
Reynolds launches Camel Snus
In 2007, RJR Tobacco launched the first commercially viable snus product in the United States. Snus, Swedish for snuff, is made of pasteurized tobacco and is placed in the upper lip and gum. It does not require spitting. In a move that many analysts declared "risky," Reynolds demonstrated its commitment to smokeless tobacco by lending the name of its flagship cigarette to the product. -
Reynolds buys NRT company
In Dec. 2009, Reynolds American Inc. purchased Niconovum AB, a Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) company, that markets products under the Zonnic brand name in Sweden and Denmark. The company began selling products in the lead market of Des Moines, IA, in 2012. Reynolds is the only U.S. tobacco company to make and market NRT products.
