James Albert Bonsack






Bonsack's cigarette rolling machine, as shown on U.S. patent 238,640.


James Albert Bonsack (October 9, 1859,[1][2] – June 1, 1924) was an American inventor who invented an early cigarette rolling machine in 1880.


Prior to that time, cigarettes had been rolled by hand. Readymade cigarettes were a luxury item, but became increasingly popular.[3] The slow manual fabrication process—a skilled cigarette roller could produce only about four cigarettes per minute on average[4]—was insufficient to satisfy the demands in the 1870s. In 1875, the Allen and Ginter company in Richmond, Virginia, offered a prize of US$ 75,000 (equal to $1,711,136 today) for the invention of a machine able to roll cigarettes. Bonsack took up the challenge and left school to devote his time to building such a machine.[3] In 1880, he had a first working prototype, which was destroyed by a fire while in storage at Lynchburg, Virginia.[4] Bonsack rebuilt it and filed a patent application on September 4, 1880.[3] The patent was granted the following year (U.S. patents 238,640[2] from March 8, 1881 and 247,795[5] from October 4, 1881). Bonsack's machine was able to produce 120,000 cigarettes in 10 hours,[4] (200 per minute), revolutionizing the cigarette industry.[3]






  • Bonsack machine model







  • Photo of James Albert Bonsack






Legacy


The census-designated place of Bonsack, Virginia, located in Roanoke County, was named after James Bonsack, who lived in this town located along route 460 between Roanoke and Bedford.[6]



References





  1. ^ Ancestry of James Albert Bonsack Archived 2007-10-20 at the Wayback Machine. URL last accessed 2006-10-11.


  2. ^ ab U.S. patent 238,640, with diagrams. URL last accessed 2006-10-11.


  3. ^ abcd Bennett, W.: The Cigarette Century[permanent dead link], Science 80, September/October 1980. URL last accessed 2006-10-11.


  4. ^ abc Bonsack's cigarette machine Archived 2006-11-13 at the Wayback Machine. URL last accessed 2006-10-11.


  5. ^ U.S. patent 247,795, with diagrams. URL last accessed 2006-10-11


  6. ^ Prince Edward County seal – wheat sheaf vs tobacco hand, The Farmville Herald, Prince Edward County, September 24, 2004




Further reading


  • Tilley, N. M.: The bright-tobacco industry, 1860 - 1929; Arno Press, 1972; .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
    ISBN 0-405-04728-2.


External links


  • Bristol and the Tobacco Trade – Cigarettes and the Machine








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