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One Saturday a couple of years ago, my girlfriend Brandee and I headed down to Conway to visit the Riverwalk, a quaint little spot on the Waccamaw perfect for a spur of the moment lunch date. As we were driving down Hwy 701 with the windows down, enjoying a pipe and a brief reprieve from the tangible humidity, we passed fields of lush green crops being harvested by large brown combines. I knew instantly that the crop in question was tobacco, acres and acres of soon-to be-Virginias, ripe and ready for harvest.
Growing up on a tobacco farm in the foothills of North Carolina, I was accustomed to this sight, but it had been some time since I'd seen the crop we enjoy everyday in its beginnings. There was an eerie continuity to the moment, passing by fields of the very same leaf that I used to help prime as a boy and I now enjoy, and hopefully help others enjoy, on a daily basis. The moment also offered some introspection into our hobby itself. We discuss the subtle complexities and merits of one finished blend or another, but how often do we really think about the tobacco plant itself, and the time and labor poured into cultivating it by farmers around the globe? I reflected on this thought for the remainder of the afternoon (much to Brandee's vexation).
Coincidentally, that night I happened across an agricultural article in a local newspaper on the status of South Carolina's tobacco crops. Being so close to the ocean, I was surprised to learn that Horry County (the county in which Smokingpipes resides) actually produces half of South Carolina's raw tobacco each year. What are the odds of that?
We discuss the subtle complexities and merits of one finished blend or another, but how often do we really think about the tobacco plant itself, and the time and labor poured into cultivating it by farmers around the globe?
If you should visit Horry County, it's important to remember that it's pronounced "'Orry," not, "hor-ee." Residents will correct you, with prejudice. It's how I learned. According to the article I found, 6,600 acres of the state's 13,000 acres of tobacco are grown right here in Horry County. At one time, this area was important globally for tobacco supply. It still is, to a large extent, but not nearly like it was. In Horry County, there's an annual Tobacco Heritage Day, with demonstrations by volunteers hand tying and stringing tobacco, held at the L.W. Paul Living History Farm. Tobacco has certainly not been forgotten. Driving away from urban centers invariably leads to tobacco fields, and they are beautiful, constant reminders of the importance of tobacco. The History Farm has been set up in early 20th-century fashion, with blacksmithing, a mill, a woodworking shop, and wood-stove-cooking demonstrations. Mules pull carts through the tobacco fields, where volunteers hand pick tobacco before stringing it to dry.
Celebrated is a time when families, neighbors and communities worked together, and worked hard, to harvest crops in the short time frames necessary.
Tobacco farming became especially important here in the late 1800s, adding enormously to the local and state economy. South Carolina has experienced three expansions and declines of tobacco production in its history. Settlers planted tobacco in the Charleston area in the 1670s and entered the world tobacco market at that time. However, Maryland and Virginia were growing tobacco as well, and supply kept prices down until rice became a more profitable crop, and most of South Carolina turned to rice as its leading export. In the 1760s, tobacco became an important crop again, especially in the backcountry, where water supply made rice an unprofitable crop. A rise in tobacco prices motivated farmers to start growing tobacco again. In 1799, production reached 10 million pounds. But cotton was becoming an important cash crop by that time, and by the 1810s, tobacco had again dramatically diminished in local agricultural importance.
South Carolina's Pee Dee region began the next tobacco expansion in the 1880s. Profits from cotton crops had fallen to a point called the "cotton depression." This was around the time that cigarettes were becoming popular, and demand for tobacco was growing, with tobacco crops reaping 10 times the profit that cotton could.
Driving away from urban centers invariably leads to tobacco fields, and they are beautiful, constant reminders of the importance of tobacco.
Prices again began dropping in the 1920s, even before the Great Depression brought harder times still. Tobacco farmers were particularly beset, many losing their farms. In 1933, the Agricultural Adjustment Act alleviated issues with overproduction with a government-sponsored cooperative of tobacco farmers that helped regulate production, bringing prices back up. Following WWII, price regulation was added, the cooperative purchasing any unsold tobacco for later resale. Pricing support and production regulation resulted in quotas of how much tobacco a farmer could grow, quotas that became valuable assets for growers. However, tobacco production has been declining in recent history. With the health scares of the 1970s, tobacco companies began developing overseas sources of tobacco, reducing domestic demand. By 1992, the number of tobacco farms had been reduced by 70 percent. Most had consolidated to accommodate quota cuts and reduced per-pound profits. Tobacco auctions became part of tobacco history, with manufacturers buying directly from farmers instead of through the more competitive auctions.
South Carolina produces primarily flue-cured tobacco, and it leans toward the bright leaf side, along with red Virginias. Though we still see field after field of deep green tobacco goodness when driving through the Horry County countryside, there's less than there was. But that isn't necessarily bad news. While exciting and frenetic tobacco auctions are a thing of the past, there's now an accurate, established supply chain, far more efficient than formerly, where farms grow specifically commissioned crops. There is now more quality control at each step in the chain, resulting in better quality tobacco and more consistency throughout.
People have wondered why Smokingpipes.com is located in a rather unassuming area off the East Coast. The general answer is, that's just the way things happened; that's how the cards fell. That said, there is something telling ex post facto about operating out of an area so rich in tobacco history and tradition — one that we, much like the farmers currently hard at work reaping the summer's harvest, hope to advance and cultivate. And it's reassuring to know we live in the very heart of tobacco country.
References:
- "Go big or go home: How Horry County grows half the tobacco in South Carolina" | By Christian Boschult | Myrtle Beach Online
- "Tobacco" | By Eldred E. Prince, Jr. | South Carolina Encyclopedia
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Comments
Lovely article and reflection. I used to live in Augusta and enjoyed visiting your shop when we'd come to Myrtle Beach in the summer. Thanks for reminding me (and perhaps others) of those pleasant days!
Thanks for this! I worked a tobacco harvest one year on a friend's farm in Kentucky, and it was quite an eye-opening experience. It's hard labor and not something that could be automated easily. The best part, by which I mean the most horrendous part, was the hanging of the laden stakes in the curing barn.
Having moved from the Cleveland Ohio region to Southport NC (just a figurative stonesthrow from Smokingpipes headquarters) I am convinced that the Virginia’s just taste better now that they’re closer to “home”! The pungency of Carolina orange in an old tin of Ashton Pebblecut practically buzzes with vibrancy - even after years of rest. The deep reds in my C&D Bayou Morning Flake exhibit a rich malty darkness as if still connected to the very earth beneath my feet. And who but we lovers of the leaf can salivate just driving down a Carolina coastal country road past the broad waving green leaves, while the humidity conveys the rich scent of fresh tobacco through the window? Thanks Andrew for sharing your musings - and promoting my own!
Thank you for interesting story.
Do they need the workers to the plants?
I grew up on a farm and cropped tobacco as a kid. We primed by hand putting the the leaves in the narrow "trucks" with burlap sides. When five or six "trucks" were filled up a tractor would take them to the barn where the ladies and high school girls would hand the tobacco to the loopers, three leaves at time. At the end of the day it was time to barn the tobacco which was misery in and of itself. The quality of the tobacco was better back then before stripping all the leaves and once and bulk curing.
Mornin'
I wonder if Smokinpipes relizes how lucky they are? You guys have a "Mark Twain " in your company. Chuck really knows how to put words together to make pictures not needed!!!!! Thanks again for another grest narritive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..
@Dave Sommer We are VERY fortunate to have Chuck here as a part of our team! So glad you're enjoying his writing as much as we are!
Thanks for reminding me of the great days of tobacco. I grew up in Northeast Tennessee and worked tobacco every summer from the time I was about eight or nine until I graduated high school. We, of course, grew Burley, not Virginias, but I still recall fondly the experience. It was hard, hard work, but satisfying.
Great article. I'm not far from Lancaster county Pa where plenty of tobacco is grown and still harvested by hand by the Amish. It's a beautiful site.
Great article and wanted to know where Smoking Pipes Office is locate in Horry County ? Howard Seel
Great article and was curious where Smoking Pipes Office is located in Horry County?
Howard Seel
i was raised on granddads tobacco farm until i went into military service. The good lord only provided that man with a single horse and sleds without wheels. Well as his life moved on his was able to purchase a ford jubilee to help out. Now that item had a slow leaky tire on front corner. Each time it was needed for use,the tire had to be inflated with a hand pump,then jacked down of his wooden block so it would not damage sidewall of tire. Use item,park under shed,jack it up to save that tire.He never surrendered to the rubber company one cent for a new tube. When he was called home,that tractor still remained on that wood block. that tractor was sold with a wood block to save the precious tire of his. He was very proud he owned a real tractor and cared for it accordingly,in his world. Our family home from 1794 still remains with all the inhabitants belongs since that time. it is beautiful inside and only a lucky few has seen it. Most only call it back home. I call it the place where a picture resides of my own daughter but that picture is a 150 years ago. those girls were beautys as my daughter has retained that look. the photo appears as her today. I love this nation and served it with all my heart. Just a note of a time in my life.
Late reading on my part, but brought back old memories:
I first saw tobacco being grown and worked on a vacation with the family to southside Virginia. Harvested tobacco was being worked by hand, tied in bunches, by a crew of mostly women working under the shade of a large tree in the heat of August.
The next encounter was many years later in central Virginia when one of my students was working his family tobacco allotment as a part of an FFA project. I took the photos for his project, shooting the crop from planting through harvest. I remember him trimming it up, bunching it up with twine, and lining the bunches up on long poles. Later these went into the family curing barn to dry.
Many years passed by, but last year when driving through Bertie County, NC, I saw a large mechanized harvesting operation underway. I did not see how that crop was processed, but I assume the tractor-pulled harvester removed a lot of the manual labor from that part.
It was a nice prompt to recall those previous memories....
Just came across your article. My people are from Aynor and Conway, but we now live in the SC piedmont. Grandpa was an Horry County tobacco farmer. I'm now one of your customers and look forward to visiting your shop when next we are in the area. Great article.