What tobacco can buy

Reynolds was and is a bastion in the business world today. Eponymously named for its founder it is second largest cigarette company in America.

Today it is owned by a British entity that in turn was founded by merging the American Tobacco Co (whose founder was another business giant in the south called Duke and Imperial Tobacco of UK).

What all this means is that the town of Winston-Salem, NC for which cigarette brands were named became a massive economic engine all through the 20th century America.

We re-visited this town with our kid, back from college to enjoy some local Chinese dumplings of all things housed in Reynolda village (named for the family compound of the founders).

Red bean dumplings (sweet treat after some spicy noodle soup, all delicious)

This time we toured their mansion which Katherine (wife of RJR) affectionately referred to as the bungalow (all 34,000 sft of it). This extravaganza of a house shows you what money can buy in America or anywhere for that matter if you have enough of it. In this case the wealth was generated by production and distribution of fine tobacco to millions around the world.

Young grapes on the vines of the gardens at Reynolda

Below are scenes from the house which harbors everything from a bowling alley to a shooting gallery to a large indoor pool and gardens that span thousand acres. Much of the land was bequeathed to the now Wake Forest University next door.

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