How did the Bonsack machine change cigarette production?

The Bonsack machine, patented by James Bonsack in 1880, revolutionized cigarette production by transforming the product from an expensive, handmade luxury item into an inexpensive, mass-produced commodity.1

Before the machine's introduction, cigarettes were crafted by hand, limiting their availability to urban elites. By automating the rolling process, the machine allowed manufacturers to produce cigarettes at a scale and cost that made them accessible to the general public. Industrialists like James Buchanan Duke of the American Tobacco Company utilized the machine alongside aggressive marketing to dominate the market, eventually leading to a decline in traditional tobacco-chewing and pipe-smoking habits in the United States. Similarly, in Britain, the adoption of the machine enabled manufacturers to rapidly dominate the cigarette trade. This shift toward mass production was a foundational step in the rise of the cigarette as a globally consumed product.1