Speed Riggs Proclaims 'Sold to American!'

Cigarette ads have been banned on US television and radio for 50 years, but way back when, tobacco companies were among the most active sponsors of the shows Americans watched and listened to every night.

The American Tobacco Co., makers of Lucky Strike cigarettes, were particularly busy on the radio, notably sponsoring Your Hit Parade, which ran on radio and then television from 1935-59. Luckies used a variety of ad techniques during this time - in print, it sponsored a series of paintings by such American Scene artists as Thomas Hart Benton and Doris Lee, all depicting tobacco growing and auctioning. It used celebrity advertising, as did many other tobacco companies. And it spawned a variety of catchphrases - "LS/MFT - Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco," "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet," and "It's Toasted." But perhaps the most famous of them all was one that few people could imitate - the spiel of tobacco auctioneer L.A. "Speed" Riggs and his incomprehensible, fast-paced recitation of the bids before ending with the sing-song, "Sold to American!"

L.A. "Speed" Riggs

Riggs' act is hard to describe, so perhaps it is best to hear it, and today's post provides the opportunity to do so. It's a transfer of a promotional transcription that Lucky Strike put out circa 1938, in which Riggs demonstrates and explains his craft to announcer Basil Ruysdael. This would have been soon after American patriarch George Washington Hill brought Riggs on board to be a spokesperson. The auctioneer quickly became famous for his vocal acrobatics, and promoted the brand for several decades.

Luckies also used a number of other tobacco auctioneers on its programs, all distinctive, but they were a letdown after Riggs. The idea was to have each auctioneer provide testimony to the quality of Lucky Strike. "Why, year after year I've seen Luckies buy the finest, the mildest, the most flavorful tobacco," they would tell the listeners, adding, "I've smoked 'em myself for [10 - 15 - 150] years." The commercial would inevitably add (as does Basil Ruysdael), "With men who know tobacco best, it's Luckies two to one!"

On one memorable Jack Benny radio show, the auctioneer averred that he had "smoked 'em myself for nigh onto 15 years!" The Benny cast was astonished by the antique phraseology straight out of North Carolina tobacco country, and it became a running joke.

This transcription is cleaned up from Internet Archive.

1938 Lucky Strike ad