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The
Cigar story
The story of the cigar is an
ancient and colourful one. It is believed to have
its origins within Central America, where smoking
was practiced some two thousand years ago by the
Mayas Tribe. They were known to have smoked tubes
of loosely rolled tobacco leaves, similar to the
present day cigars.
Later the Aztecs in Mexico
incorporated smoking in their religious rituals
and further south the Arawak Indians of the Amazon
valley observed similar customs.
Soon after the discovery of the
West Indies and the American continent, numerous
accounts were written of these New World people
who smoked tobacco and also used it to chew and as
snuff. In the West Indies, Brazil and Central
America, natives rolled small leaves of tobacco,
wrapping them in a larger tobacco leaf or in a
maize or palm leaf, the prototype of today's
cigar.
Smoking came to Europe with the
return of Columbus from the New World. He had been
offered some dried leaves as a token of friendship
and his men had witnessed how these leaves were
used. In fact one of the returning sailors,
Rodrigo de Jerez, is reported to have been
imprisoned for smoking on the grounds that he was
'consorting with the devil'. The introduction of
tobacco seeds or plants is attributed to Ramon
Pane, Columbus' priest on his second voyage. It
was many years later, in 1560, that Jean Nicot,
after whom the herb was given its botanical name
'Nicotiana', sent a gift of seeds to the Queen
Mother of France, Catherine de Medici,
recommending the plant for its curative
properties.
The plant soon became the popular
remedy for every ailment, taken as snuff and in
other ways. Smoking for pleasure was still
practically unknown in Europe, except in seaport
towns, although cigars were probably smoked in
Spain.
Various people have been credited
with being the first to smoke in England. We know
tobacco was introduced into England at some time
before 1565, when Hawkins returned from a voyage
to America. Sir Walter Raleigh is believed to be
chiefly responsible for making the smoking habit
fashionable, but despite the claims by men of rank
and position, the title of first to smoke in
England should probably go to a humble sailor of
Bristol who, as early as 1556 'did walk through
the street emitting smoke from his nostrils'.
The origins of the world 'cigar'
and the cigar itself are lost in time. The
earliest mention of the word in England was in
1735.
By this time, smoking was coming
into fashion among the upper classes, though for
many years the habit was still frowned upon by
their womenfolk to such an extent that the men had
to take themselves off to the kitchen or the
stables, or puff surreptitiously up the chimney,
if they wished to smoke in their own homes.
By the mid 1800's the Cigar had
attained many converts and in 1870 it was recorded
that over half of the tobacco smoked in our towns
was in the form of Cigars.
During the depression of the
early 1920's, the total consumption of tobacco
fell and Cigar manufacturers turned to 'promoting'
their brands by including beautifully designed and
coloured inserts in their packaging in order to
attract Cigar smokers.
It was during the 30's and 40's
that machinery began to take a role in the art of
Cigar making and today the vast majority of Cigars
smoked in the UK are machine made.
However, all the Cigars in the
Franklyn, Davey & Co. portfolio are handmade
by craftsmen in the traditional manner and only
using the finest leaves available from the lands
that Columbus discovered over 500 years
ago.
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