FROM THE ARCHIVES

Did you know that the resort founded on healthful living once had its own brand of cigarettes?

The R.W. Swain Tobacco Company of Danville, Virginia, introduced the “Milder Smoother Smoke” on Nov. 19, 1940. The cigarettes were a short (70 mm), soft pack, with 20 cigarettes. The first pack was presented to Richard S. Tufts, grandson of Pinehurst founder James Walker Tufts, at a formal launch and luncheon at the Pinehurst Country Club. In attendance were more than 50 people, including Donald J. Ross, manager of the club; Robert J. Harlow, of the Pinehurst Press Bureau and founder of Golf World magazine; Harris Norris, manager of the Carolina Hotel; and Edward Horne, manager of the Holly Inn. According to R.L. Swain, president of the tobacco company, Pinehurst brand cigarettes contained a new ingredient never before used in the manufacture of cigarettes. That ingredient, Panax Quinquefolium — from the plant commonly known as American ginseng — was tasteless and produced a milder, smoother smoke. It was a humectant, a substance that attracts and holds onto water molecules providing hydration, such as aloe vera, glycerin or hyaluronic acid. Due to this humectant, according to the product information, there was “an amazing lack of sore or raw throat after smoking many of them.” In the tobacco company’s search for a name for the new brand of cigarettes, “Pinehurst” was chosen due to its association with outstanding quality and pleasurable satisfaction.