The History (And Value) Of Cigar Bands
Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2008
by Garson Smart
CigarFox
For many cigar smokers, the small paper band encircling their stogy is just a piece of trash, to be discarded along with the shrinkwrap around the box. But for others that cigar band is a bit of history - a collectible that adds immeasurably to the romance and mystique of smoking.
What is the cigar band, and how did it become so important? As is so often true when it comes to cigars, the story begins in Cuba - early-19th-century Cuba, to be exact, when that island nation had already come to be recognize as the cigar capital of the world. At that time cigar packaging was minimal - often no more than a wooden barrel or box, with the manufacturer's name inscribed. The cigars themselves were generally left blank. This situation, not surprisingly, created a cheat's paradise, in which cheap European cigars were bundled in boxes with "Cuban" markings on them and sold, domestically, to unsuspecting customers who thought they were getting fine imported Cubans.
Many other makers adopted this practice, to the point where, by 1855, most Cuban cigar exporters were using them. These bands cut down on instances of counterfeiting while giving cigar manufacturers a way to increase name recognition and loyalty.
The practice spread from Cuba to cigar makers everywhere, and its popularity was encouraged by breakthroughs in printing technology, which developed alongside changes in the economy of Europe and the Americas that favored cigar smoking. Specifically, cheap color printing (through chromolithographic processes developed in Germany) was made widely available during the latter part of the century, and paper-embossing followed in the 1880s.
Between the expansion of the cigar industry and the new possibilities developed by the printing industry, a "Golden Age" of cigar advertising was almost guaranteed, and that's what followed. Cigar makers began working not only to manufacture their cigars, but to differentiate their products from others. The late 19th and early 20th centuries featured elaborate, distinctive cigar box and cigar band artwork, often produced by highly-regarded commercial artists. These well-wrought bands featured images of famous figures of the day, historical figures, nationalistic imagery, nature scenes and animals. As with today's postage stamps, special bands would be made to commemorate special events.
And, also like stamps, the bands had that combination of ephemerality and workmanship that so often draws collectors. While they were often well-made, they weren't intended to last - so they gave collectors a challenge, as baseball cards, comic books and cheap children's toys would later in the 20th century. And they always gave off a whiff of nostalgia, reminding dedicated smokers of good times shared with a cigar and a friend.
Children also found these bands attractive, since they were often left discarded on streets during the height of cigar-smoking's popularity. Manufacturers even made "albums" with blank pages in which a person's cigar band collection could be displayed - the forerunner of those plastic display sheets that every sports-card collector knows so well.
Adding to the boom in band collecting, some cigar makers gave premiums to customers who turned in a certain number of bands - everything from a set of children's silverware (50 bands) to a Scientific American subscription (600 bands) to a baby grand piano (180,000), according to the American Cigar Co. catalog of 1904. (Those of you who used to collect Marlboro Miles during the 1990s should be feeling deja vu right about now.)
After World War I, cigars fell in popularity relative to cigarettes. Cigar makers stopped putting as much energy into the production of attractive cigar bands, as it became more necessary to cut costs. Cigar bands - at least in the US - grew generic, boring. The cost cut wasn't enough - many thousands of cigar companies closed up shop for good in the US during the '20s and '30s.
Band collecting continues in the US among a hardy group mostly consisting of old-timers and nostalgia buffs, but in Europe it remains a thriving hobby, and cigar makers there continue to print colorful but cheap bands, some of which come as part of a series (again like stamps), others of which are created specifically for collectors.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Hope this information is helpful Gustavo Bock THE TRUTH ABOUT HAVANA CIGARS page 36 HAVANA TOBACCO COMPANY, NY., 1904 "THE REASON WHY CIGAR BANDS ARE USED. Millions of domestic cigars, made in duplicate shapes and to closely resemble the genuine imported Havana Cigars of our standard brands, at supplied at low cost to retail cigar dealers in all parts of this country by unscrupulous manufacturers, to be used for "stuffing" or filling up boxes that originally contained genuine imported cigars, and many dishonest dealers buy empty "imported" boxes and re-fil them with these imitation domestic substitutes. Imitations of all our standard brands are also made in Havana. This is why it is necessary for us, at a cost of nearly a quarter of a million dollars a year, to band our brands of cigars to protect you from this criminal fraud."
By the way, Gustav, later Gustavo Bock Muller, arrived in Cuba in the year 1858. (p.3 The Truth About Havana Cigars) His factory "El Aguila de Oro" was opened sometime around 1860. In 1900, during an interview with labor leader Samuel Gompers (The Samuel Gompers Papers: Volume 5 p.181), in that he was born in Hamburg. Gustavo Bock died on Feb. 15 1910 (NY Times, Feb. 16 1910, p.9), at age 74. Do the math.)Dear Alex,I am Gustavo Bock's Great-grandaughter and have some documents you might be interested in. I also have the 1904 pamphlet The Truth About Havana Cigars, which includes his photo. Marta HutsonMarta, my family come originally from Cologne, Germany and my uncle in his memoirs established a connection between an ancestor of his and the founders of the Bock Cigar company. If interested, you can contact me on peter.horn9 on the btinternet service provider (use sign! and com, it is not allowing me to use an E mail address!) and I can send you this.Regards,Peter HornDear Peter, Thanks for your comment re Grampa Bock. I will try your Email. I don't have much info re his activities in Germany and would like to know more. Marta HutsonPeter, I am also a great-grandaughter of Gustavo Bock. I would like to hear from you regarding the information you write to Marta about. We would also like to learn more about his life in Germany.
NEW-YORK DAILY TRIBUNE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1910 OBITUARY Gustave Bock, a Leader Among Tobacco Men, Dead. Havana, Feb. 15.- Gustave Bock, the cigar manufacturer, died of pneumonia to-day, aged seventy-three years. Cuba held no better known man nor a wealthier than Gustave Bock. To the world at large he gave many famous brands of cigars. He was a native of Germany, but went to Cuba as a young man, and had ever since been associated with the tobacco Industry there. He began as a clerk in a tobacco house, where ho learned the busi- ness, root and branch. In 1864 be became his own master as head of the house of Bock & Co. Five years after founding his company he was making and selling more than one hundred thousand cigars a day. The con- cern was soon one of the largest in Cuba. In 1889 Mr. Bock formed the house of Henry Clay Bock & Co.. Ltd.. by the purchase, with the aid of British capital, of the Henry Clay, the Espanola, the Intimidad and several other cigar and cigarette factories of Havana. He also purchased a number of the best tobacco plantations, especially in San Luis and the Reinates district of the famous Vuelta Abajo, which at present have a yearly yield of about fifty thousand bales. The new firm at once dominated the Havana cigar busi- ness. Mr. Bock was also at the time of his death president of the Havana Tobacco Company. When the Spanish-American War broke out he was in Europe arranging his con- solidation scheme. He went at once to Washington, and by bringing much influence to bear got permission to pass the blockading line, provided Rear Admiral Sampson did not object. When he reached Key West he created a sensation. With his characteristic lack of self-consciousness he took everybody Into his confidence inside of twenty-four hours. He showed letters and telegrams which established his standing at Madrid. He made no secret of his Spanish sympathies. As a result many thought him a spy. Admiral Sampson, while having no doubt of his integrity, declared that Mr. Bock, in a half hour's talk with one of the Spanish authorities, should he be allowed to enter Cuba, would unconsciously tell many things be had seen in America which the enemy wished to know. Consequently the tobacco man was not allowed to pase the blockade. His business suffered considerably as a result, and he was inclined to blame the American authorities.
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