IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE RE-FILLING OF CIGARETTE WRAPPERS OR CASES
Year: 1884

page_text: I HENRY EDWARD NEWTON of the Office for Patents, Breams Building, Chancery
Lane in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer do hereby declare the nature of
my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR PREVENTING THE RE-FILLING OF
CIGARETTE WRAPPERS OR CASES and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
•
It is well known that cigarettes as commonly offered for sale are divided into
small lots usually of twenty cigarettes each, each of which lots is enclosed in a
wrapper or case of suitable form and construction to be carried in the pocket of
the user until the cigarettes contained therein are consumed. It is also well known
that these packages or pocket cases are usually put up by the manufacturer in
boxes; or as they are called in the trade "cartoons" each of which contains
twenty five of the small packages or pocket cases.
It is customary among small retail dealers to break these small packages or
pocket cases so as to sell the cigarettes in less quantities than a full package, and
when this is done a considerable number of the empty cases or wrappers accumulate
in time in the hands of the small dealers. It is also found that in concert saloons
and other like places where large quantities of cigarettes are sold and smoked a
considerable number of the empty wrappers or cases are left about the premises in
a comparatively uninjured condition.
Whenever any brand of cigarettes becomes particularly popular it has been found
that unprincipled persons are in the habit of collecting these empty wrappers until
a sufficient number for one or more "cartoons" has been accumulated, and then
refilling them with an inferior grade of cigarettes which are then sold as the
genuine article, thus deceiving the buyer and bringing into disrepute the brand of
cigarettes with which the wrappers were originally filled.
This practice has grown to such an extent, particularly in the case of certain
exceedingly popular brands of cigarettes that it has become a source of great
annoyance and loss to certain manufacturers and it has therefore become very

page_text: desirable to provide some means by which this re filling of the empty wrappers or
cases can be prevented or at least rendered so difficult that it cannot be successfully
practised.
It is to the accomplishment of this result that the present Invention is directed
and to that end the Invention consists in providing each of the small packages or
cases which form the large package or "cartoon" with a distinguishing mark, the
mark upon each of the twenty five small packages being different from that upon
any other and the marks of the whole twenty five bearing a certain relation to
each other or forming a sequence.
It will of course be readily seen that in collecting the empty wrappers in the
manner just stated it is practically impossible for any one to secure the identical
twenty five wrappers with which any "cartoon " was originally filled and that
consequently in making up a "cartoon" of re-filled wrappers it is necessary to use
wrappers which have been selected substantially at random from a large number
of different "cartoons so that by examining the marks upon the packages of
cartoon" it can be readily ascertained whether they are the ones originally
placed there by the manufacturer, or have been selected at random from several
different cartoons."
any
"
The distinguishing marks which are applied to the twenty five packages forming
the "cartoon" may consist of numbers from one to twenty five inclusive, or of
any other sequence of numbers, expressed either in figures, letters or words, or
they may consist of the first twenty five letters of the alphabet.
Distinguishing marks of this character will not however be wholly effective for
the purpose, because, owing to their extreme simplicity they can be readily changed
or simulated. In order therefore to most nearly secure the desired result it is
necessary that the marks which are applied to the wrappers of the several packages
should in addition to forming the desired sequence or bearing some definite relation
to each other be of such a nature that they cannot be readily changed or
simulated.
"
I have therefore selected as the twenty five distinct marks which I apply to
the wrappers of the twenty five packages forming a "cartoon" miniature repre-
sentations of the twenty five cards (including the "joker") comprised in the
ordinary pack of cards used for playing the game of Euchre. By adopting repre-
sentations of playing cards for this purpose marks are provided which it is
comparatively difficult to alter or produce and by selecting the cards of the Euchre
pack exactly the number required for the twenty five packages of the "cartoon
are provided. Representations of the cards of this pack are also particularly well
suited for this purpose because the game of Euchre is so generally known that
almost any buyer will understand the marks and be able to readily ascertain
whether or not the packages of a "cartoon" bear the proper marks and can
consequently determine whether the packages are those originally put there by the
manufacturer, or are in wrappers which originally formed parts of different
" cartoons."
The principle and application of the Invention is also illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawing, in which
"
,,
Figure 1 shows a cartoon of cigarettes with the cover removed so as to
expose the ends of the packages. As shown in this Figure only twenty three of
the packages are in position the other two having been removed.
Figures 2 and 3 are enlarged side elevations of the two packages which have
been removed from the "cartoon" showing their distinguishing marks consisting
of miniature representations of the ace and nine-spot of diamonds it being under-
stood of course that the other twenty three packages are marked in like manner
with representations of the other twenty-three cards of the pack.
In conclusion it is to be remarked that instead of using representations of the
cards composing a Euchre pack as the marks for the several packages of the
"cartoon" representations of the cards of the pack or part of the pack used for

page_text: playing any other game may be employed although of course it is most desirable to
select a pack in which the number of cards is just equal to the number of packages
in a * cartoon."
It is also to be understood that instead of using representations
of playing cards for these distinguishing marks any other marks may be employed
so long as the whole number of marks form a sequance or bear some known and
recognised relation to each other.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A "cartoon" of cigarettes each package of which is provided with a separate
distinguishing mark, the mark upon each package being different from that upon
any other and the whole number of marks forming a sequence or bearing a certain
determinate relation to each other, substantially as described.
2. A "cartoon" of cigarettes each package of which is provided with a mark
consisting of a representation of a playing card the card upon each package being
different from that upon any other substantially as described.
3. A "cartoon" of cigarettes each package of which is provided with a mark
consisting of a representation of a playing card, the card upon each package being
different from that upon any other and the whole number of cards forming a pack
for playing a game, substantially as described.