Welcome to the second installment of this series. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
The article that I'm presenting today is notable for points of similarity and points of deviation from the cigar scene of today. Of particular note are the comments regarding maduro cigars. For those of us new to the scene, there is a sense that the fascination with and popularity of maduro-wrappered cigars is a recent trend. Certainly in the Habanos market, maduros are a relatively new phenomenon in this last century. Maduros made their appearance most recently in the Edición Limitadas and just this year in the Cohiba Maduro 5 line. In fact, the author of this article published in 1896 states that the resurgent popularity of maduros was a return to smokers' preferences of 1881!
This article also reports on a popular misconception regarding maduros that persists even today, 111 years later. This is the perception that maduros are richer in flavor and/or stronger than lighter-wrappered cigars. It's interesting to note that back then, the cigar blends were not predominantly tailored to their wrappers. I wonder if this is the case today. Of the cases I'm aware of where a cigar is available in different wrappers, the makers do report that the filler blend is identical. More information from the manufacturers of today would be welcome.
We also read that a century ago, the "Havannah" was highly regarded for being a mild, smooth smoke. In fact, period advertisements for Havana cigars do tout their mildness and smoothness as assets. This is curious because contemporary collectors of Habanos who buy with the intent of aging regard tannic even harsh cigars as epitomizing ageworthiness if not quality. Do changes in the product (strength) drive the uses of the product or is it the other way around? Who can say.
The author remarks that consumption of American-made Tampa and Key West cigars was increasing relative to Havana-made. Unfortunately, there is not enough context for me to determine whether this was in reference to American-made cigars using non-Cuban tobacco or rather the clear Havanas of old, cigars rolled in the U.S. using Cuban leaf. During this era, tobacco also came from places like Sumatra, Jamiaca, and Mexico. Nowadays, the big three are Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. It is true that the end of the 19[sup]th[/sup] century was the beginning of the golden age of clear Havana manufacturing in southern Florida.
We also note that at that time, there was a shift from larger cigars in general to smaller, shorter cigars. The reason, as stated, was the increasing pace of life. Wow. Not much has changed I see. Today, we see a shift that is contra to that pattern. Cigars seem to be getting fatter, longer, -er in every respect. There is, however, a cadre of connoisseurs who appreciate the particular charms of thinner, smaller cigars. Can you say Lanceros? What about minutos? This article names three sizes: perfecto, regalia especial, and concha. Without further research, I can only say that the two former sizes must refer to larger cigars and the latter to something not unlike a half-corona (a size advertised for its quality and brevity).
Finally, we see that cigar smokers of that period were becoming more price conscious. It seems to me that although cigars are referred to as "luxuries" in this article, that they were a much more pervasive and integral part of men's daily lives than they are today. Cigarettes had yet to eclipse the cigar and so as far as tobacco for the everyman, cigars were pretty much it. Even back then, it was possible to buy a cigar that was many times the cost of the average item. In fact, the disparity was even greater than it is today. $1 - 20 or a factor of 20 covers the vast majority of product today. $0.07 - $2.50 or a factor of 36 is the range the author cites. Wow. In today's terms, that would mean cigars costing $36. Surely there are not cigars that pricey?
So there you have it, another look back in time to a bygone era of this great hobby that entrances us so. I find that as I read the original sources for this series, I get a sense of wistfulness. A longing for a time and product that exists now only in images and embrittled newsprint. I wonder what the cigars were like, what the cigar smokers were like, and what a man of that time would think if he could see our world of cigars today.
" Fashion in Cigars: Popularity of the Dark Brands Returning – Small Sizes the Favorites " - Daily InterOcean, Chicago Illinois, October 25th, 1896
As in everything else that can be bought and sold there are fashions in cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco, and the tastes and likings of men for particular flavors and bouquets change with the lapse of years. Only, in the case of anything in the form of tobacco, the fashions change slowly and are hard to trace, for the reason that the poorer class, consuming by far the greater bulk, will take anything cigar-shaped, and the common phrase, “a good see-gar,” means simply whatever will draw and waste itself away in smoke. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that within the last ten years a change in the popular taste has been slowly coming over American smokers. The dealers notice it, and each year now, they lay in altogether different stocks from what they used to.
Gradually, yet surely, the discriminating smokers are coming back to the dark cigars of fifteen years ago. A dealer now sells three dark cigars where he sold two several years back, or in 1893 and 1894. This is popular prejudice in favor of the cigar approaching blackness more than it is anything else, due to the idea that a higher flavor is found in them. As a matter of fact, color has really little to do with the strength of a cigar. In ninety-five cases out of every hundred that are made, the “filler,” or the major part of the cigar, is precisely the same tobacco, without reference to the hue of the “wrapper.” Experts say that averaging up all grades, the effect of the light cigar with greenish spots is more pronounced on the system than that of the darker and supposedly stronger. However this may be, the “spotted” cigar is yielding in popularity to the colorado maduro, or even the maduro.
Another change that has been noticed is the increase in consumption of Tampa and Key West cigars and the reduced call for cigars of Havana make. This began to be marked before the Cuban war set in with all its force, so it cannot be due to the present difficulty in getting Havana brands. The truth is that the famous old days of the “mild Havannah,” celebrated in song and story have gone by, it is feared, never to return. Nevertheless, Havana tobacco has not lost its value, the cigars mentioned as most popular being all of Havana stock. Domestic tobacco has never come largely into use for the good grades, and the supply is mainly utilized for the production of “fives,” “two for five,” and “three for five.”
In size the small cigar is supplanting the larger ones for general smoking. When business in New York was a leisurely affair men had time to appreciate the flavor of a good-sized, fat cigar, of both bulk and body. But nowadays, in the rush of trade, in the hurry and scurry of morning and afternoon, the “quick smoke,” a little cigar that is usually puffed hardly three-quarters through, and then thrown away, is the fashion. In his home at night, or in his club, a man who knows “smokes” in nine cases out of ten takes up a perfecto or a regalia especial that seems something like those of old times, but for use in the day the concha is the cigar of the moment and more of these are sold than of all the others.
If you know where to go you can buy a cigar for a cent in New York. Millions of the “three for five” are sold over on the East Side. From this point, the prices range up to $2.50 for a single “smoke.” Cigars are actually sold at this figure in the city, though they do not show their value in the smoking despite their aroma. Fifty cents buys just about as good a cigar as can be purchased. Recently there has come about a change in the prices men are willing to pay for these luxuries. The “three for a quarter” has taken the place of the “twofer,” and the men who used to think nothing of spending 25 cents for each cigar now get two for that amount of money. Where $12 a hundred used to be paid, $7, $8, or $9 is not the figure.
In cigarettes the fashion is for the mildest and lightest Virginia leaf, and nothing else is popular. Smoking tobaccos are lighter mixtures than they used to be, and getting lighter each year. Perique is used more and more, and in larger proportions. The favorite mixtures have perique as their foundation, then Virginia and Havana, and finally a very little Turkish. Seventy-five cents for a quarter of a pound is about as high as the average man will pay for these. There is a very delicious and aromatic Turkish tobacco on sale in several places in New York costing $4 a quarter pound, but is seldom bought, except by foreigners.
Wilkey
The article that I'm presenting today is notable for points of similarity and points of deviation from the cigar scene of today. Of particular note are the comments regarding maduro cigars. For those of us new to the scene, there is a sense that the fascination with and popularity of maduro-wrappered cigars is a recent trend. Certainly in the Habanos market, maduros are a relatively new phenomenon in this last century. Maduros made their appearance most recently in the Edición Limitadas and just this year in the Cohiba Maduro 5 line. In fact, the author of this article published in 1896 states that the resurgent popularity of maduros was a return to smokers' preferences of 1881!
This article also reports on a popular misconception regarding maduros that persists even today, 111 years later. This is the perception that maduros are richer in flavor and/or stronger than lighter-wrappered cigars. It's interesting to note that back then, the cigar blends were not predominantly tailored to their wrappers. I wonder if this is the case today. Of the cases I'm aware of where a cigar is available in different wrappers, the makers do report that the filler blend is identical. More information from the manufacturers of today would be welcome.
We also read that a century ago, the "Havannah" was highly regarded for being a mild, smooth smoke. In fact, period advertisements for Havana cigars do tout their mildness and smoothness as assets. This is curious because contemporary collectors of Habanos who buy with the intent of aging regard tannic even harsh cigars as epitomizing ageworthiness if not quality. Do changes in the product (strength) drive the uses of the product or is it the other way around? Who can say.
The author remarks that consumption of American-made Tampa and Key West cigars was increasing relative to Havana-made. Unfortunately, there is not enough context for me to determine whether this was in reference to American-made cigars using non-Cuban tobacco or rather the clear Havanas of old, cigars rolled in the U.S. using Cuban leaf. During this era, tobacco also came from places like Sumatra, Jamiaca, and Mexico. Nowadays, the big three are Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, and Honduras. It is true that the end of the 19[sup]th[/sup] century was the beginning of the golden age of clear Havana manufacturing in southern Florida.
We also note that at that time, there was a shift from larger cigars in general to smaller, shorter cigars. The reason, as stated, was the increasing pace of life. Wow. Not much has changed I see. Today, we see a shift that is contra to that pattern. Cigars seem to be getting fatter, longer, -er in every respect. There is, however, a cadre of connoisseurs who appreciate the particular charms of thinner, smaller cigars. Can you say Lanceros? What about minutos? This article names three sizes: perfecto, regalia especial, and concha. Without further research, I can only say that the two former sizes must refer to larger cigars and the latter to something not unlike a half-corona (a size advertised for its quality and brevity).
Finally, we see that cigar smokers of that period were becoming more price conscious. It seems to me that although cigars are referred to as "luxuries" in this article, that they were a much more pervasive and integral part of men's daily lives than they are today. Cigarettes had yet to eclipse the cigar and so as far as tobacco for the everyman, cigars were pretty much it. Even back then, it was possible to buy a cigar that was many times the cost of the average item. In fact, the disparity was even greater than it is today. $1 - 20 or a factor of 20 covers the vast majority of product today. $0.07 - $2.50 or a factor of 36 is the range the author cites. Wow. In today's terms, that would mean cigars costing $36. Surely there are not cigars that pricey?
So there you have it, another look back in time to a bygone era of this great hobby that entrances us so. I find that as I read the original sources for this series, I get a sense of wistfulness. A longing for a time and product that exists now only in images and embrittled newsprint. I wonder what the cigars were like, what the cigar smokers were like, and what a man of that time would think if he could see our world of cigars today.
" Fashion in Cigars: Popularity of the Dark Brands Returning – Small Sizes the Favorites " - Daily InterOcean, Chicago Illinois, October 25th, 1896
As in everything else that can be bought and sold there are fashions in cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco, and the tastes and likings of men for particular flavors and bouquets change with the lapse of years. Only, in the case of anything in the form of tobacco, the fashions change slowly and are hard to trace, for the reason that the poorer class, consuming by far the greater bulk, will take anything cigar-shaped, and the common phrase, “a good see-gar,” means simply whatever will draw and waste itself away in smoke. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that within the last ten years a change in the popular taste has been slowly coming over American smokers. The dealers notice it, and each year now, they lay in altogether different stocks from what they used to.
Gradually, yet surely, the discriminating smokers are coming back to the dark cigars of fifteen years ago. A dealer now sells three dark cigars where he sold two several years back, or in 1893 and 1894. This is popular prejudice in favor of the cigar approaching blackness more than it is anything else, due to the idea that a higher flavor is found in them. As a matter of fact, color has really little to do with the strength of a cigar. In ninety-five cases out of every hundred that are made, the “filler,” or the major part of the cigar, is precisely the same tobacco, without reference to the hue of the “wrapper.” Experts say that averaging up all grades, the effect of the light cigar with greenish spots is more pronounced on the system than that of the darker and supposedly stronger. However this may be, the “spotted” cigar is yielding in popularity to the colorado maduro, or even the maduro.
Another change that has been noticed is the increase in consumption of Tampa and Key West cigars and the reduced call for cigars of Havana make. This began to be marked before the Cuban war set in with all its force, so it cannot be due to the present difficulty in getting Havana brands. The truth is that the famous old days of the “mild Havannah,” celebrated in song and story have gone by, it is feared, never to return. Nevertheless, Havana tobacco has not lost its value, the cigars mentioned as most popular being all of Havana stock. Domestic tobacco has never come largely into use for the good grades, and the supply is mainly utilized for the production of “fives,” “two for five,” and “three for five.”
In size the small cigar is supplanting the larger ones for general smoking. When business in New York was a leisurely affair men had time to appreciate the flavor of a good-sized, fat cigar, of both bulk and body. But nowadays, in the rush of trade, in the hurry and scurry of morning and afternoon, the “quick smoke,” a little cigar that is usually puffed hardly three-quarters through, and then thrown away, is the fashion. In his home at night, or in his club, a man who knows “smokes” in nine cases out of ten takes up a perfecto or a regalia especial that seems something like those of old times, but for use in the day the concha is the cigar of the moment and more of these are sold than of all the others.
If you know where to go you can buy a cigar for a cent in New York. Millions of the “three for five” are sold over on the East Side. From this point, the prices range up to $2.50 for a single “smoke.” Cigars are actually sold at this figure in the city, though they do not show their value in the smoking despite their aroma. Fifty cents buys just about as good a cigar as can be purchased. Recently there has come about a change in the prices men are willing to pay for these luxuries. The “three for a quarter” has taken the place of the “twofer,” and the men who used to think nothing of spending 25 cents for each cigar now get two for that amount of money. Where $12 a hundred used to be paid, $7, $8, or $9 is not the figure.
In cigarettes the fashion is for the mildest and lightest Virginia leaf, and nothing else is popular. Smoking tobaccos are lighter mixtures than they used to be, and getting lighter each year. Perique is used more and more, and in larger proportions. The favorite mixtures have perique as their foundation, then Virginia and Havana, and finally a very little Turkish. Seventy-five cents for a quarter of a pound is about as high as the average man will pay for these. There is a very delicious and aromatic Turkish tobacco on sale in several places in New York costing $4 a quarter pound, but is seldom bought, except by foreigners.
Wilkey
