Fatima (cigarette)

Fatima was launched in the 1870s, and was marketed as an exotic blend of Turkish tobaccos.{{cite web|url=http://knowotr.blogspot.nl/2008/07/smoke-em-if-you-got-em.html|title=Smoke 'Em (if you got 'em)|website=knowotr.blogspot.nl|date=5 August 2008 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209122159/http://knowotr.blogspot.nl/2008/07/smoke-em-if-you-got-em.html|archive-date=2018-02-09}} It was one of the first brands to be made on a cigarette machine. The name Fatima, a common Turkish or Arab woman's name, helped bolster the Turkish image.

In the early 1900s, manufacturers of Turkish and Egyptian cigarettes tripled their sales and became legitimate competitors to leading brands. Fatima cigarettes was one of many cigarettes developed at this time which received wide success. Liggett & Myers Fatima cigarettes, named after a common first name for Arabic women, was one of them. The pack art featured a veiled woman, the Turkish crescent moon with stars, and the Iron Cross, the symbol of the Ottoman empire.{{cite web |title=Fatima |url=https://tobacco.stanford.edu/cigarettes/early-orientalist/fatima/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720151212/http://tobacco.stanford.edu/tobacco_main/images.php?token2=fm_st215.php&token1=fm_img6385.php&theme_file=fm_mt027.php&theme_name=Early+Orientalist&subtheme_name=Fatima |archive-date=2017-07-20 |access-date=2025-04-22 |website=Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising |publisher=Stanford University}} It was the best-selling cigarette brand in the U.S. from 1910 to 1920.{{cite web|url=http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/liggett-myers-tobacco/98750/|title=Liggett & Myers Tobacco Co.|date=15 September 2003 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207010037/http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/liggett-myers-tobacco/98750/|archive-date=2018-02-07}}

File:Twelfth Street looking north from Locust Street.jpg, Missouri around 1914]]

About 1911 it became the first cigarette brand to be sold in 20-unit packs (15 cents).{{cite web|url=http://mainstreet.lib.unc.edu/projects/tobacco_durham/index.php/documents/view/61|title=Main Street, Carolina Documents|website=mainstreet.lib.unc.edu|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216021244/http://mainstreet.lib.unc.edu/projects/tobacco_durham/index.php/documents/view/61|archive-date=2013-12-16|access-date=2016-04-18}}

Two developments pushed Fatima to the sidelines toward the end of the 1920s. First, the Turkish fad fell victim to politics as the alliances of World War I made the East seem less mysterious than treacherous to Americans. Second, Camel cigarettes came on the market in 1913. N.W. Ayer & Son handled the introduction of Camel, which was a runaway success, and by 1925, Camel had won 40% of the market and R.J. Reynolds led the industry.

Advertising for Fatima was discontinued during the Great Depression.

In the 1940s, with the introduction of L&M's new flagship brand Chesterfield, Fatima became a king size brand; the cigarettes were 10 millimeters longer

Before 1950, the package design included a stylized image of a veiled Middle Eastern woman.

Over time, the brand's old-fashioned image caused it to lose market share from the mid-1950s onward {{citation needed|date=January 2015}} and L&M eventually phased it out by around 1980.

File:JackWebb2.jpg

Many poster and billboard adverts were made to promote Fatima cigarettes,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RSGR_gClE|title=Fatima Cigarettes Billboard New York, 1910s - Film 95757|last=Huntley Archives HD|date=18 May 2016|via=YouTube|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4RSGR_gClE|archive-date=10 February 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1950-ad-fatima-cigarettes-cameron-richmond-liggitt-myers-patricia-rockefeller-162567-coll3-177|title=1950 Ad Fatima Cigarettes Cameron Richmond Liggitt Myers Patricia COLL3|first=Period|last=Paper|website=Period Paper|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103652/https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1950-ad-fatima-cigarettes-cameron-richmond-liggitt-myers-patricia-rockefeller-162567-coll3-177|archive-date=2018-02-10}}{{cite web |url=http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/show-picture?id=1174783428 |title=The Difference is Quality |access-date=2018-02-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804160629/http://graphic-design.tjs-labs.com/show-picture?id=1174783428 |archive-date=2016-08-04 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/33216291@N08/4073512503/|title=1951 FATIMA Cigarettes Vintage Advertisement Smoking Glamorous Lady Showgirl Woman|date=3 November 2009 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.oldride.com/carphotos/7867644256.html?o=811273854831|title=Your Classic Car Classifieds and Community|website=www.oldride.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/https://www.oldride.com/carphotos/7867644256.html?o=811273854831|archive-date=2018-02-10}}{{cite web|url=http://magazinesadsandbooks.com/Magazine-Ad-For-Fatima-Cigarettes-Paul-Henry-I-Look-for-Real-Quality-in-My-Dogs-Guns-1952-P3029980.aspx|title=Magazine Ad For Fatima Cigarettes, Paul Henry, I Look for Real Quality in My Dogs & Guns, 1952 - Magazines Ads and Books Store|website=magazinesadsandbooks.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/http://magazinesadsandbooks.com/Magazine-Ad-For-Fatima-Cigarettes-Paul-Henry-I-Look-for-Real-Quality-in-My-Dogs-Guns-1952-P3029980.aspx|archive-date=2018-02-10}}{{cite web|url=http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/ads/tobacco/cigarettes/FatimaCigarettes-1916A.jpg.html|title=Fatima Cigarettes -1916A|website=www.magazineart.org|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/http://www.magazineart.org/main.php/v/ads/tobacco/cigarettes/FatimaCigarettes-1916A.jpg.html|archive-date=2018-02-10}} including a special Christmas ad.{{cite web|url=https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/224350481/1951-fatima-sigaretten-ad-sinterklaas|title=1951 Fatima sigaretten Ad - Sinterklaas - Kerstmis - Wall Art - Decor - Retro Vintage tabaksreclame|website=Etsy}}

File:Ray Caldwell pitching in the first game at Ebbets Field, April 5, 1913.jpg

File:Paul Henry Fatima Cigarettes 1952.jpg

Some other advertisement products were also made, such as a flip book,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--2-MA7KR0A|title=Fatima Cigarettes Dance flipbook|last=FlipbookCollector|date=9 July 2014|via=YouTube|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--2-MA7KR0A|archive-date=10 February 2018}} but also various sets of cigarette cards. In 1910, a set of flags from various American Universities were released,{{cite web|url=https://www.collectors.com/trading-cards/1910-t331-fatima-cigarettes-stamp/133557|title=Collectors.com - Trading Cards - 1910 - T331 FATIMA CIGARETTES STAMP|website=www.collectors.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209065348/https://www.collectors.com/trading-cards/1910-t331-fatima-cigarettes-stamp/133557|archive-date=2018-02-09}} and in 1913 a set of American baseball team cards were included in a pack of Fatima cigarettes.{{cite web|url=https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/56600990_1913-fatima-cigarettes-baseball-cards-cinci-and|title=1913 Fatima Cigarettes Baseball Cards Cinci &|website=LiveAuctioneers|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209064148/https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/56600990_1913-fatima-cigarettes-baseball-cards-cinci-and|archive-date=2018-02-09}}{{cite web|url=http://www.baseballandtobacco.com/t200.htm|title=Jon Canfield's Baseball Related Cigarette and Tobacco Packs|website=www.baseballandtobacco.com|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302091926/http://baseballandtobacco.com/t200.htm|archive-date=2015-03-02}}{{cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2015/fatima-cigarettes-baseball-team-cards-burdick-collection|title=Baseball Team Cards from the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection|website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art, i.e. The Met Museum|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063113/https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2015/fatima-cigarettes-baseball-team-cards-burdick-collection|archive-date=2018-02-09}}

From 1917 to 1919, the Frank Seaman Agency created Fatima advertising aimed at an educated, prosperous consumer who read publications as Town and Country. Ads, tagged "Distinctively individual", claimed that Fatima cigarettes were always appropriate after an elegant meal or a fashionable evening on the town, and they were available for 15¢ for a package of 20. Like its rivals, Liggett offered premiums to purchasers of Fatima, a strategy intended to attract smokers of all classes rather than just the sophisticates represented in its print ads.

Advertising for Fatima was discontinued during the Great Depression. The cigarette received a modern makeover after World War II, becoming a King Size cigarette to compete with other popular brands of the era.

In the late 1940s L&M converted the brand to a king-sized version and began an extensive radio advertising campaign. Fatima was the sole sponsor of the early years of the Dragnet radio series. The creator and star of Dragnet, Jack Webb, voiced a number of on-air pitches for the brand and appeared in print advertising as well.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWQOGAtjO20|title=Chesterfield & Fatima Cigarettes End of 1951 Dragnets.|last=desertdawn226|date=26 December 2014|via=YouTube|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210103641/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWQOGAtjO20|archive-date=10 February 2018}}

File:1926 Fatima Turkish Blend Cigarettes ad in Film Fun (IA filmfun446lesl) (page 57 crop).jpg

There was also a short-lived mystery anthology series called Tales of Fatima, hosted by Basil Rathbone. In Tales of Fatima, Rathbone portrayed himself in adventurous situations played for broad comedy. References to the sponsor, Fatima cigarettes, were embedded in the storylines, and Rathbone also delivered the commercials. In further tie-ins, Rathbone also endorsed the product for a series of magazine ads.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GoneCQAAQBAJ&q=fatima+cigarettes&pg=PA227|title=Radio Program Openings and Closings, 1931–1972|first=Vincent|last=Terrace|date=14 October 2010|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476612232|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209063353/https://books.google.it/books?id=GoneCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA227&lpg=PA227&dq=fatima+cigarettes&source=bl&ots=F7Ow-XlSHD&sig=vdo1W_J_CHfuTYdDsNO6euSjMBU&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjq843s8pbZAhUDsaQKHZLNCls4ChDoAQhZMAc#v=onepage&q=fatima+cigarettes&f=false|archive-date=9 February 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.basilrathbone.net/ads/|title=Basil Rathbone, Master of Stage and Screen: Advertisements|website=www.basilrathbone.net|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707152257/http://www.basilrathbone.net/ads/|archive-date=2017-07-07}}

• Turkish tobacco
• Egyptian cigarette industry
• Murad (cigarette)

{{Commons category|Fatima advertisements}}

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Category:Liggett Group brands