What made these ten cent brands possible was the low wholesale cost of tobacco in 1931, plus the money the manufacturers saved by not advertising them. The manufacturers of the different economy brands also used more burley tobacco in their blends, which cost less than Virginia tobacco. One tactic the major manufacturers used to compete with the success of the new economy smokes, was to buy large amounts of the less desirable tobacco available at auction. This tobacco was then denied to the manufacturers of the ten centers. The 'Big Three' tobacco manufacturers were convicted of this shenanigan in a lawsuit that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. However, there is a second school of thought that feels the different leaf grading systems used by the government and all the parties involved, was the root cause of this misunderstanding.