Player's Navy Cut

Navy Cut Tobacco is a defunct brand of cigarettes, originally manufactured by Imperial Brands – formerly John Player & Sons – in Nottingham, England.[1] The brand became "Player's Navy Cut". They were particularly popular in Britain, Germany and British Ceylon (Sri Lanka) in the late 19th century and early part of the 20th century and were later produced in the United States.[2] The packet has the distinctive logo of a sailor in a 'Navy Cut' cap.[3][4]

Player's Navy Cut
Product typeCigarette
Produced byImperial Brands
Introduced1883
Websiteimperialbrandsplc.com
Carcinogenicity: IARC group 1

The phrase "Navy Cut" is according to Player's adverts to originate from the habit of sailors taking a mixture of tobacco leaves and binding them with string or twine. The tobacco would then mature under pressure and the sailor could then dispense the tobacco by slicing off a "cut".[5] The product was also available in pipe tobacco form.

Packaging

The cigarettes were available in tins and the original cardboard container was a four-sided tray of cigarettes that slid out from a covering like a classic matchbox. The next design had fold-in ends so that the cigarettes could be seen or dispensed without sliding out the tray. In the 1950s, the packaging moved to the flip-top design like most brands.[6]

Marketing
Enamelled metal box for 1 ounce of tobacco. Before this, smokers would have bought tobacco by weight from loose supplies and cigarette papers to roll them in

The image of the sailor was known as "Hero" because of the name on his hat band. It was first used in 1883; a lifebuoy was added five years later. The sailor images were an 1891 artist's concept registered for Chester-based William Parkins and Co. for their "Jack Glory" brand.[7] Behind the sailor are two ships. The one on the left is thought to be HMS Britannia and the one on the right HMS Dreadnought or HMS Hero.[7]

As time went by, the image of the sailor changed, sometimes having a beard and other times being clean-shaven. In 1927, "Hero" was standardised on a 1905 version. As part of the 1927 marketing campaign John Player and Sons commissioned an oil painting Head of a Sailor by Arthur David McCormick.[8][9] The Player's Hero logo was thought to contribute to the cigarettes popularity in the 1920s and 1930s when competitor W.D. & H.O. Wills tried to create a similar image. Unlike Craven A, Navy Cut was intended to have a unisex appeal. Advertisements referred to "the appeal to Eve's fair daughters" and lines like "Men may come and Men may go".

WWII cigarette packets exhibited at Monmouth Regimental Museum in 2012

Hero is thought to have originally been intended to indicate traditional British values, but his masculinity appealed directly to men and as a potential uncle figure for younger women.[10] One slogan written inside the packet was "It's the tobacco that counts" and another was "Player's Please"[11] which was said to appeal to the perceived desire of the population to be included in the mass market. The slogan was so well known that it was sufficient in a shop to get a packet of this brand.

Player's Medium Navy Cut was the most popular by far of the three Navy Cut brands (there was also Mild and Gold Leaf). Two-thirds of all the cigarettes sold in Britain were Player's and two-thirds of these were branded as Players Medium Navy Cut. In January 1937, Player's sold nearly 3.5 million cigarettes, including 1.34 million in London The popularity of the brand was mostly amongst the middle-class and in the South of England. Whilst it was smoked in the north, other brands were more popular there.[10] The brand was discontinued in the UK in 2016.

References
  1. The United States Patents Quarterly. Bureau of National Affairs. 1966. p. 262. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  2. Cox, Howard (2000). The Global Cigarette: Origin and Evolution of British American Tobacco, 1880-1945. Oxford University Press. p. 304. ISBN 978-0-19-829221-0. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. Tinkler, Penny (28 November 2006). Smoke Signals: Women, Smoking and Visual Culture in Britain. Berg. p. 106. ISBN 978-1-84520-267-5. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  4. "Ceylon Tobacco Company - Overview of our portfolio". www.ceylontobaccocompany.com. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  5. "Advert". Scientific American: 315. February 1964. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  6. Tanner, Maurice Rickards. Edited and completed by Michael Twyman with the assistance of Sally de Beaumont and Amoret (2000). The encyclopedia of ephemera : a guide to the fragmentary documents of everyday life for the collector, curator, and historian ([Corr. ed.]. ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 0415926483. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  7. "Navy Cut" cigarettes and HERO, navalmarinearchive.com, accessed February 2013
  8. Arthur David McCormick (1860–1943); Artist, The Dictionary of Ulster Biography
  9. Art UK – Your Paintings – Head of a Sailor
  10. Tinkler, Penny (2006). Smoke signals : women, smoking and visual culture in Britain (English ed.). Oxford: Berg. ISBN 1845202678.
  11. "It's the Tobacco that Counts", New York Public Library, Digital Images
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