Sweet Afton were a brand of Irish cigarettes produced by P.J. Carroll & Co., Dundalk, Ireland, a subsidiary of British American Tobacco.[1]
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Sweet Afton were a short, unfiltered cigarette made with Virginia tobacco.
The Sweet Afton brand was launched by Carroll's in 1919 to celebrate the link between Dundalk and the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. Burns' eldest sister, Agnes, lived in Dundalk from 1817 until her death in 1834 and was buried in the cemetery of St. Nicholas's Church in the town. Carroll's thought that the brand would only be successful in Scotland if the carton simply had an image of Burns, or Scottish name on the packet, so the people of Dundalk were canvassed and the name Sweet Afton was chosen.[2] The name is taken from Burns' poem "Sweet Afton", which itself takes its title from the poem's first stanza:
Flow gently, sweet Afton, amang thy green braes
Flow gently, I’ll sing thee a song in thy praise
My Mary’s asleep by they murmuring stream
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
As of Autumn 2011, British American Tobacco no longer manufacture Sweet Afton cigarettes.
The brand proved particularly popular with post World War II Rive Gauche Paris. Not only was it reputed to be Sartre's preferred cigarette, Sweet Afton features prominently in a Louis Malle's Le Feu follet and a number of Nouvelle Vague films.[3] Margot Tenenbaum (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) from Wes Anderson's 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums also smokes Sweet Aftons.
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