The chronicle of Eger Tobacco Factory
The factory-under construction
A factory in Szeged was set into operation in 1885; and in 1888 the number of plants had increased to twelve when the Debrecen factory was opened. Another three factories were constructed before 1893 in Sátoraljaújhely, Budapest-Óbuda and Pápa. Cigar production began in Szent-Gottárd and Eger in 1894. Where does one begin the long history of the Tobacco factory of Eger? The issue of Egri Újság of 2 June 1891 informs us that the most urgent case on the agenda of the Aldermen’s council meeting was to restrain profiteering city butchers and merchants. What happened was that the butchers of Eger quite unjustly, for pecuniary gain and to the detriment of the public, in a secret alliance raised the price of beef on two occasions; also, “merchants trading with poultry rose early in the morning, purely for profiteering, collected all birds available, thus leaving the public no other choice than to buy from these people at a much higher price”. After the Aldermen’s council had decided to settle the case by ordinance of the City Council, the proposal of His Excellency Dr József Samassa, Archbishop of Eger, was brought up, concerning his offer of selling the Crown building to the city for the sum of 8,000 forints. The Aldermen brought a decision to accept the offer of His Excellency the Archbishop and to ask for a portion of land adjacent to the Crown building, since the city wished to build a tavern and a restaurant there to cater for the needs of the age. After the motion was adopted the next item on the agenda was to elect a committee of five Aldermen to promote the cause of setting up one of the new state tobacco factories in Eger. Next the Aldermen adopted a motion accepting the audit of the trust accounts, and after that was done they all left.
