Chewing tobacco—also known as plug tobacco or “chaw”—was the most common way to consume the tobacco plant in the mid-to-late 1800s. During this time American tobacco companies produced a variety of products related to chewing tobacco, including pouches, pipes, and spittoons. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, a number of these items used Masonic imagery on their products or as part of a brand name. A few years ago the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library was given a tobacco pouch that advertises “on the Square” plug tobacco. The name fits within a square and compasses printed on the pouch. In 2020 another benefactor donated a tin tobacco container to the museum that appears to been made for this same tobacco manufacturer. Viewed together, these two objects and shed some light on a tobacco product made with a Masonic audience in mind.
The recently donated tin is marked with the names of two tobacco manufacturers, the Strater Brothers Tobacco Company and the Burly Tobacco Company, both located in Kentucky. The Strater Brothers of Louisville produced made several popular brands of chewing and smoking tobacco in the late 1800s. The Burley Tobacco Company, initially formed under the auspices of an agricultural cooperative, the American Society of Equity, was also called the Burley Tobacco Society. The Burley Company purchased Strater Brothers in 1912 and the combined companies remained active into the 1920s.
The Burley Company, as part of an agricultural cooperative, helped to set a minimum price for pooled tobacco. To attract buyers who identified as with unions and cooperatives the Burley Tobacco Company featured imagery and mottos that echoed those used by fraternal groups and labor unions of the time, as well as Masonic symbols. “Brotherhood,” “Union Leader,” and “the tie that binds” were words and phrases that the Burley Company used on its packaging. In addition to the brand name, “On the Square,” the tin pictured here had the statement “…Independent Factory Union Made” printed on the back of the tin, showing how the Burley Company sought to attract Masons and union supporters as customers.
Have you heard of “On the Square” tobacco? Do you have any tins or ephemera featuring the Burley or Strater Tobacco companies? Email Assistant Curator Ymelda Laxton at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to let us know.
*1 Tobacco Pouch, 1891-1923. Strater Brothers Tobacco Company and Burley Tobacco Company, Kentucky. Gift of Peter J. Samiec, 2018.009.2.
*2 Tobacco Tin, 1912-1923. Strater Brothers Tobacco Company and Burley Tobacco Company, Kentucky. Gift of Waine E. Morse, 2020.012.
