For sale is a early 1900s HARRY GOLDMAN & VIELE TOBACCO CUTTER from the Harry Goldman & Viele Inc, Des Moines, Iowa. This rare general store cast iron Tobacco Plug Cutter is in excellent condition and has holes to mount the cutter to a wood base. This cast iron cutter is marked with a December 1, 1914 patent date. The cutter was manufactured by C.C. Johnson Co, Quincy, Ill. This rare and distinctive cutter looks great from all angles. My favorite aspect of this cutter is the mix of products sold: Tobacco, Fruits, and Candies. Cutter measures about 15 inches long, 9 inches tall with the handle lowered, and 4 inches wide. The cutter stand 9 1/2 inches tall when the blade is in the closed position. A first rate tobacciana collectible.
In 1916, Harry Goldman founded his company in Des Moines, Iowa. After two or three years, he formed a partnership with Mr. Viele to be receivers and handlers of fruits and vegetables. In January 1926, this company merged with the C.C. Taft Company and then operated under the name of C . C . Taft Company. The cutter for sale would have been made between 1914 and 1926.
Around 1870, Captain Robert Wilson, George Jacoby, John Auer, and Paul J. Sorg founded the first tobacco factory along the Miami and Erie Canal in Middletown, Ohio. In 1877, Sorg withdrew from the firm and founded the P. J. Sorg Tobacco Company. His factory grew until it covered a city block with buildings three to five stories high. The factory was equipped with presses, packers, and other tobacco-processing equipment. By 1888 the factory employed 700 people. In 1888, Sorg sold the factory to the Continental Tobacco Company, later known as the American Tobacco Company, which controlled many of the tobacco factories in the United States. After an anti-trust lawsuit by the federal government, the company was ordered to break up. In 1912, the Middletown factory became part of the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company.
