The Gallaher name is synonymous with a time when the north of Ireland was still a major player in the industrial world.Established in 1857 by Thomas Gallaher and originally opened in Londonderry, the company went on to become one of the biggest tobacco suppliers in the world.Gallaher was a brand that stood alongside power house companies such as Harland & Wolff shipbuilders that put Ulster industry on map.The business flourished and in 1863 it made the move to bustling Belfast city. In 1896, Gallaher opened what was then the biggest tobacco factory on the planet.And with the development of colour lithography in the late 1870s, companies like Gallaher's could now create attractive images to market their products.Gallaher began operating from premises in Hercules Street, his company's York Street factory was built in 1881, and within 10 years 40 tobacco spinning machines were in operation, eventually covering a 10-acre site. In 1900 Queen Victoria awarded Gallaher's a royal warrant, and in 1928 it became a publicly traded company. Growing manufacturing demands prompted major extensions to the York Street factory in 1935.Most employees were females and among their tasks would be stripping the stem from the tobacco leaf.
![Gallaher cigarette cards irish view scenery Gallaher cigarette cards irish view scenery](http://cigarettecardinserts.co.uk/catull_files/images/gal006.gif)
Browse FREE Gallaghers Cigarette Cards Price/Value Guide - Appraisals, Valuations & FREE Sale Advice. See TODAY's Gallaghers Cigarette Cards for SALE, BEST OFFER and Auction; plus Expert Appraisal/Valuation, FREE sales advice and brokerage services, FREE sale prices, values, wish list and more - FIND 150+ Specialist categories Bath Antiques Online - Buy, Sell & Value! X56 - Kute Kiddies 1916 - Gallaher Cigarette Cards Loose in Plastic Sleeves. Mostly Different Card Nos Ranging from 1 to 98, but a few of the x56 cards are duplicates. ALL Original Old Cards.
Mostly it was performed by hand before machine stripping was developed.According to local legend, the smell never left the women no matter how much they washed and when they went to dances, their dancing partners would say: 'I know where you work.' When the first machine stripper came in, the workforce rose to more than 1,000.With war on the horizon, Gallaher's built air raid shelters in 1939 at the Belfast factory and the warehouses at Connswater.In the Belfast Blitz over Easter 1941, 180 Luftwaffe bombers attacked the city. As a result 1,000 people were killed, 1,500 injured and half the houses in Belfast were damaged or destroyed. Many factories were also damaged.Despite this, cigarette production boomed during the Second World War, with cigarettes regarded as a morale booster for servicemen and women.Gallaher's main factory and York Street Mill were among those badly damaged by bombs.This prompted the decision to build a brand new factory at a site purchased just outside Ballymena at Lisnafillan. This site was built specifically for cigarette manufacture.It was to become one the town's biggest employers, alongside the Michelin tyre factory and Wrightbus.The factory put Ballymena on the map as an area of promising enterprise.