Tobacco has a rep as a crop grown only in the South. But tobacco farming was big business in the 17th and 18th centuries in a nascent New York City.
Dutch colonists grew it in New Amsterdam, and settlers occupying farms from Greenwich Village to the village of Bloomingdale (today’s Morningside Heights, roughly) produced it as well.
In fact, the native name for Greenwich Village, Sapokanikan, supposedly translates into “tobacco fields. Hey, who knows?
The fields and farms eventually disappeared—replaced by tobacco manufacturers like Goodwin & Company, headquartered in Manhattan, who created this seductive late 19th–century ad (from the NYPL digital collection).
Tags: 19th century tobacco ads, Goodwin & Company, Greenwich Village tobacco farm, history of tobacco, New Amsterdam crops, old ads from the 19th century, tobacco in New York City, Upper West Side history, village of Bloomingdale NYC
November 1, 2010 at 11:46 am |
They still grow it in CT. Outer wrappers of cigars, I believe… We passed farms a few years ago driving along the CT river… Not the interstate.
November 27, 2011 at 1:38 am |
Yes…you can see shade tobacco farms on the drive into Bradley Intl Airport (at least, they were still there as of a few years ago). The outer wrappers require a uniform color, which is why the plants are shaded.
November 1, 2010 at 5:40 pm |
[...] the 17th and 18th centuries, farmers in New York City (then, New Amsterdam), grew tobacco [Ephemeral [...]