THE TURKISH STATE MONOPOLY
ca. 1870s
Cairo, Egypt became world famous for the Egyptian style oval cigarettes manufactured there the last two decades of the 19th Century. The late 1870's formation of the Turkish tobacco "Regie" forced almost all Greek and Turk tobacconists doing business in the Ottoman Empire to emigrate to Cairo or Alexandria. At that time Egypt was under the suzerainty of Turkey, along with Greece, the Balkans, Syria and Palestine. The new monopoly wouldn't allow tobacconists to make their cigarettes anywhere but in Egypt, nor would it permit Egyptian farmers to grow tobacco. Turkish tobacco is also known as Oriental tobacco, and choice leaves from the different growing districts such as Samsoun, Maden, Dere, Djannik, Bafra and Smyrna in Asia Minor, and Cavalla, Serres, Kir and Zichna in Greece and Macedonia, were exported to Cairo aboard cargo ships owned by the monopoly. A very high import tax on this raw tobacco generated a large amount of revenue. However, Egyptian or Turkish style cigarettes were also made in America. Beginning around 1890, many Greeks and Turks who had been making cigarettes in Egypt, immigrated here. G. A. Georgopulo & Co., Inc. was the agent for the Turkish State Monopoly in the United States. George Georgopulo and his brothers Basil and Theodore made their high quality cigarettes at 48 Stone Street, a very old fashion building tucked into the Wall Street financial district of lower Manhattan. Tobacco workers in this small four story factory made luxury cigarettes for members of America's exclusive private clubs, and a few other discriminating smokers. The brothers liked to tell visitors to their factory that Admiral Byrd took Georgopulo made cigarettes with him on his historic South Pole expedition. Turkish Special Cigarettes, Andron Egyptian Specials, and the perfumed Jezebel Cigarettes were all popular Georgopulo brands. The G. A. Georgopulo & Co. advertised that they had been "Serving America's Best In Good Taste Since 1905."
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