Up Cigarets

To advertising copywriters, every brand of cigaret is peculiar, unique--or at least different from every other brand. But for 20 years no major brand has differed from the others in wholesale price. Last week, as cigaret manufacturers raised their wholesale prices 1/2-c- a pack, the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. stepped slightly out of line. Lucky Strike, Philip Morris, Old Gold, and Chesterfield went up to $6.50-a-thousand (after trade discounts). Reynolds put Camels up just short of this --$6.48 a thousand.

Wholesalers will profit by the difference. But cigaret smokers will pay 1-c- a pack more for all major brands (last week's 1/2-c- raise, along with a six-months-old 1/2-c- raise which retailers have been absorbing). Cigaret makers did not seem worried lest the price boost seriously cut sales further; they are already well down from their wartime peak.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.