RJR Coupon Pipes: the R.J. Reynolds and Dr. Grabow Partnership

RJR coupon pipes is the name given to the pipe lines that the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company distributed via coupons inserted into its pipe-tobacco packages and had manufactured at the Dr. Grabow factory in the town of Sparta, North Carolina. These pipes never appeared on store shelves; they could only be obtained by collecting coupons and mailing them in.

The Life of the Campaign

The scheme is said to have gone into effect in the early 1950s; the exact starting year is not on record. Collector sources give a range of 1955-1985 for Westbrook, the best-known of the lines. The campaign closed in 1987, when Reynolds transferred its pipe-tobacco brands to John Middleton Inc.; the sale of Prince Albert that same year is also confirmed by independent sources. At its closing it was claimed to have been the longest-running mail-order campaign in the American market, though this claim has not been verified.