Made in Monroe: Rose Bud Chewing Tobacco
By David L. Eby
You would not think of Monroe as a place where tobacco product manufacturing was a thriving business, but in 1875 there was one local company that took up three buildings and was doing $500,000 in annual sales. That would be about $12 million in 2021 dollars.
The following year sales must have gone through the roof because of one very lucrative contract. The local business name was the “Michigan Tobacco Works” and it was located at 9-11-13 Washington Street in downtown Monroe. According to the 1913 History of Monroe County book, the company employed “80 hands.” Whether that meant 80 employees or 40 employees I do not know.