The long history of one of the area’s main industries will be explored in the April 26 program of the East Windsor Historical Society. Brianna Dunlap, former director of the Connecticut Valley Tobacco Museum, will be the guest speaker at the Society’s Osborn Home, 113 Scantic Rd., at 7 p.m. Her recent book on the history of Connecticut River Valley tobacco will be the focus of her talk, starting with New England’s Early Wooded period from 1000 B.C. to 200 B.C.
“The legend has it that a Sally Prout invented rolling tobacco lengthwise and sealing it in an outer leaf to circumvent the need for tin boxes,” Dunlap says. Although there was an East Windsor woman with that name after the American Revolution, there is no conclusive evidence that she was responsible for the introduction of the cigar trade.
By the time of the Civil War, the Valley produced up to 10 million pounds a year for cigars, pipes, and chewing, then even more when the South had to stop its trade. A later switch to cigarette smoking lessened demand for tobacco grown here.
Area farmers then devoted most their farms to shade tobacco for cigar wrappers, a move that reversed the decline of business until the introduction of homogenized tobacco, another local development.
Dunlap will also share more recent developments in the tobacco business. Copies of her book “Connecticut Valley Tobacco” available.
