ARMINGTON, MYERS & CO.

ARMINGTON, MYERS & CO. In 1867 Armington, Myers and Company was formed in Dubuque by H. W. Armington, Dorrence D. Meyers, and J. H. Tice. (1) The company used equipment that could cut tobacco quicker than by hand to produce fine cut chew and smoking tobacco. Chew tobacco was made easier to hold in the mouth with the addition of powdered white sugar and ground licorice. "Fragant" was the first brand produced to be followed by other brands like "Sunset," "Home Comfort," and "New Comer." Business was at first limited to areas that could be reached by stagecoach or the ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD. The company was the first of its kind in eastern Iowa. (2)

Armington sold his interest in June 1870 to Walter C. Cox and the company was renamed MYERS-TICE AND COMPANY. Offices and warehouses were located at 3 Iowa Street. The company annually used 350,000 pounds of tobacco for products sent throughout Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin Minnesota, California, and "the territories." Sales annually were $300,000. (3)

Tice retired from the company in 1895 and was succeeded by George W. Myers. The company was renamed MYERS, COX AND COMPANY. Business was profitable and the plant was moved to a building at 4th and Iowa. This was used for manufacturing. There were also two large warehouses. Each came to hold a two-year supply of tobacco stored in barrels. The company employed fifty people with an additional eleven salesmen who traveled the Midwest. (4)

Between 1890 and 1910 there were ten cigar manufacturing companies in Dubuque. Myers-Cox, the only one to survive the creation of tobacco trusts which put many similar companies out of business, became the only large manufacturer of smoking tobacco independent of the trusts. (5) In 1913 the company incorporated in Iowa. (6)

In the 1920s, Myers-Cox replaced manufacturing with wholesaling and distributing tobacco and other products. (7)

The 1867 Dubuque City Directory and the 1868 Guide, Gazetteer and Directory of the Dubuque & Soux (sic) City Railroad stated that this business was located at 63 Main.

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Source:

1. "Myers-Cox Company Records, 1869-1963," ArchiveGrid, Online: http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/63675086

2. Oldt, Franklin T. The History of Dubuque County, Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880, p. 660. Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=u9xDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA660&lpg=PA660&dq=ARMINGTON,+MYERS+AND+COMPANY+%28DUBUQUE%29&source=bl&ots=0CpzHKDR7v&sig=DXoNCvzhy1Nn7eFikroEEIZHSJI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VvOjUoGjEITLrgHomoGACg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=ARMINGTON%2C%20MYERS%20AND%20COMPANY%20%28DUBUQUE%29&f=false

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Kruse, Len. "Making Cigars---1867-1925," My Old Dubuque, Dubuque, Iowa: Center for Dubuque History, 2000, p. 246

6. "Myers-Cox Company Records..."

7. Ibid.