WD & HO Wills
W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco, cigar and cigarette manufacturing company founded in Bristol in 1786 by Henry Overton Wills I. The company was the first in the UK to mass-produce cigarettes and was one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco along with John Player & Sons in 1901. The company was known for its brands such as Capstan, Castella, Embassy, Passing Clouds, Panama and Woodbine. The company was also a pioneer in the use of collectible cards inside its cigarette packs. Many of the Bristol and other UK buildings that housed its factories still exist, some converted to residential use. The “Wills” brand was withdrawn by Imperial Tobacco in 1988 for most of its products.
