🐂 Antique Bull Durham plug tag – true NOS from Durham, North Carolina

This little cardboard circle is an original Bull Durham Tobacco plug tag from roughly the 1900s–1920s, saved as New Old Stock and never used in a pouch. The tag features the famous bull on one side with the slogan “NONE GENUINE WITHOUT THE BULL ON EACH PACKAGE”, and on the reverse the American Tobacco Company guarantee with the Native American portrait logo. Diameter is about 1 1/8", with a small factory hole at the top for tying.

📦 What plug tags were for
Bull Durham’s shredded pouch tobacco was such a big seller that competitors tried to imitate it, so makers used internal tags, seals, and labels to show which product was the real thing. Tags like this were tied to pouches or tucked inside packaging so dealers and customers could see they were getting genuine Bull Durham tobacco, not a knock‑off.

🏭 Durham, NC and the rise of an icon
Bull Durham started in Durham, North Carolina and grew into one of America’s first true national brands, with the bull logo and “Genuine Bull Durham” wording recognized all over the country. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, Durham was a dominant tobacco city, and Bull Durham was its flagship product. As the American Tobacco Company expanded and consolidated brands, Bull Durham was pulled into that wave and became one of its showcases.

🎬 From tobacco to movie legend
The brand stayed in production into the late 20th century and was finally discontinued in 1988—just about a year after the release of the hit baseball movie “Bull Durham” starring Kevin Costner, which cemented the bull and the Durham Bulls name in pop culture.

✨ Why this tag is special

• Antique original, not a repro – early 20th‑century cardboard plug tag from the height of Bull Durham’s popularity.

• New Old Stock – safely stored for decades, never tied to a pouch or used in a tobacco package.

• Crisp graphics – sharp printing, readable guarantee text, and a clean bull image that displays beautifully despite its age.

• Perfect small display piece – tuck in a frame, shadow box, or Riker mount with other tobacco or baseball collectibles.

Whether you collect tobacciana, Bull Durham advertising, Durham NC history, or baseball ephemera, this NOS plug tag is an affordable way to own a real piece of the brand that helped put Durham on the map.