Thompson Cigar history

Under the leadership of Stanley Resor, who purchased the agency in 1916, J. Walter Thompson Co. pioneered a number of other advertising innovations, including the use of testimonials and fine photography in advertisements.

Founded in 1948 by O.L. Thompson Jr., our company began as a small grading and hauling company based in Hanahan, South Carolina.

Mike Thompson was only two years old when his father, Hall W. Thompson, moved the family from Nashville, TN to Birmingham, AL to assume ownership of the tractor company he purchased in North Alabama in 1957.

By 1970, the company was thriving with 3 distinct divisions: Cotton, Twine and Packaging Novelties.

In 1980 it became a subsidiary of JWT Group Inc., a Delaware-based holding company.

The JWT Group was acquired by the WPP Group, a British marketing firm, in 1987.

By 1992, our original Mill at Valley Falls, now over 100 years old, had to be closed.

The Thompsoncigar.com website that launched in 1999.

In 2009, for example, the world’s first video advertisements to be embedded in a print publication appeared in Entertainment Weekly magazine.

Robert Judell, our company President died on March 18th, 2016 at the age of 92.

In 2018 Barry Garr our Controller retired and Terry Griseto joined our team as Vice President of Finance and Administration.Added Commission Dyeing and Finishing,

Thompson Tractor celebrated a major milestone in 2019 with the succession of Lucy Thompson Marsh as the fourth generation of the Thompson family to serve as a Caterpillar Dealer-Principal.

She became CEO in 2021.