John Player Special Blue (8mg)
Packets of 25 Cigarettes
Hard Packet
The Carton Has 8 Packets
Special Deal to be sent on the 1st of June
John Player founded his company in the mid-19th century in Nottingham. It was later expanded into a thriving cigarette manufactory (based at the Castle Tobacco Factories in Radford, Nottingham - just west of the city centre) and run by his sons, John Dane Player and William Goodacre Player.
In 1901, in response to competitive threats from the USA, the Player's business was merged with the Imperial Tobacco Group (headquartered in Bristol. The Imperial group included other companies such as W. D. & H. O. Wills). However, Players cigarettes retained their own identity (in brands such as 'Navy Cut', 'No.6', 'John Player Special' and 'Gold Leaf') with their distinctive logo of a smoking sailor in a 'Navy Cut' cap.
A new factory (the 'Horizon' factory) was opened in the early 1970s on Nottingham's industrial outskirts, with better road access and more effective floor space, placed quite ironically next to the headquarters of Boots the Chemists.
The old factories in Radford (especially the cavernous 'No.1 Factory') were gradually run down and the final demolition of the 'No.3 Factory', with its distinctive clock and rooftop 'John Player & Sons' sign, came in the late 1980s.
