After reaching a high of 30,800 in 1921, acres planted with tobacco in Connecticut declined to fewer than 2,000 in 2010s. Although it continued to be grown throughout the twentieth century, problems began in the 1920s as cigarettes began to replace demand for cigars and new machine-made processes required half as much tobacco per cigar. Some growers began to turn to other crops or sell off their land, some for new industrial uses, while Great Depression of the 1930s caused hardship due to falling prices. In the photograph above, taken around 1930, a group of men, possibly tobacco growers, are next to a table of mounted tobacco leaves. A label on one reads “Connecticut Broadleaf Binder Grade” indicating that the samples may have been used to separate and grade tobacco. Another sample reads “Connecticut Shade.”
Images: Photograph collection, 1992.13.208