James Buchanan 'Buck' Duke was able to create the fourth of the great trust monopolies by taking advantage of three strategic opportunities: the development of the pasteboard slide and shell cigarette packet, the invention of the Bonsack cigarette making machine, and the 1883 Congressional reduction of the cigarette revenue tax. Originally, cigarettes were loosely bundled in thin paper packets. When carried inside a man's pocket, these lightweight packs couldn't protect the fragile hand rolled cigarettes from being crushed or broken. Until someone invented stiffer packaging, cigarette sales lagged far behind those of cigars and chewing tobacco. James Duke was the first manufacturer to appreciate the value of the more protective slide and shell style packet. In May 1884 the US revenue tax was reduced from $1.75 to 50 cents per thousand cigarettes. Duke gambled that if he halfed the price of a pack, he could make a profit from sheer volume. James Duke also grasped the importance of the newly invented Bonsack cigarette making machine. This marvelous piece of machinery was able to do the work of forty-eight women, each of whom could only hand roll four cigarettes per minute. Together with his aggressive personality, hard work, and willingness to put all of his company's profits back into advertising, James Buchanan Duke dominated the cigarette industry in less than a decade.