A time ago when a Habano was a Havana. Last part

[laficion]

Part 1

For centuries , a lot has been written about the Havana cigar,

In it's 500 years of recorded history, everything about our beloved Havanas has been said or written,

The land, the soil, the seeding, the plant, the harvest, the drying process, the maturing, the rolling,

the boxing, the selling , the marketing , the conserving, the smoking and God only knows, THE REST!!

However, since tobacco is a living plant, it changes, man has also changed it in order to meet today's

need in a fast changing world. The same as drinking great wines, cigar smoking habits have evolved

in different ways of practicing and thus modifying the way we smoke our cigars today.

As in many other lifestyles, our social culture has always dictated our behavior towards the different

products that we enjoy consuming. In our society, it's called " Etiquette "

We no longer eat or drink like in the 18th century nor do we smoke our cigars like our

great grandfathers did in the begining of the 20th century.

Aside from all these different and changing ways, there's one thing that hasen't changed when we see

the new generation of cigar smokers arriving with the same passion, it's the questions that they are asking.

The same that we were asking ourselves and the same they were asking before us.

I was thinking about this today,( I don't really know why LOL) , maybe it's because I've been seeing the same

questions asked by the new members who have just joined the forum and it got me thinking about a book

that I have that dates from 1939 . This book was written by Charles Graves, who from the 1920's to the 1950's

was what you would call an authority on good living . ( A little bit like our Ken or Prez today ).

At the same time, there was a cigar merchant and cigar shipper located in the city of London called,

" Martins " Cigar Shippers at 62 Piccadilly, London, W.1. .

In 1938, Martins commissioned a Limited Edition of Graves's book on Havana cigars for a free distribution

to the store's select clientele also adding a personnal letter to each. The store closed down during World

War 2, never to reopen again .The book is called "Cigars & The Man" and was published by Martins in 1939.

I thought that maybe this book would be of a historical interest to many on the forum since it

describes, quite eloquently, the elitisist atmostphere surrounding the Havana cigar at the time.

The book also gives a glimpse of what the Havana cigar was all about when it was highly influenced

and financially subject to the USA & the UK in between the two world wars.

I divided the book in three parts so as not to drown everyone in one shot, it is rather long.

I'll add a part everyday to this space to keep everything together.

I'm sure that you'll enjoy the stories, the photos of cigars that are part of history today, personalities

that made the cultural events in those years and last but not least, the questions that were most asked

at the time as a cigar smoker, you'll see that, on that point, not much has changed in 70 + years.

Here is part 1 of this saga. Click to enlarge for a better lecture

The letter sent to each VIP.

The book cover.

The introduction by Martins cigar merchant.

Hope you'll enjoy .

Part 2

Hello everyone.

Here is the 2nd part of this saga. What is most interesting here is Graves's views on the cultural & ceramonial

aspect and the importance one gives himself in society by smoking a Havana in those days.

Another cool thing is the old photos of some famous people of the times such as, H.G.Wells or Lord Lonsdale and others.

Also some great photos of the factories.

I hope you'll enjoy the following.

Last Part. & End

Here is the last part with the rest of the questions. Do any of these questions remind you of anyone

As a historic viewpoint, you'll notice that even in the 20's & 30's, the Torpedo shape was quickly being surpassed

by the straight modern shape as we know today. A lot of smokers at the time were not very pleased about these

changes happening in Cuba. A bit like our Piggy, (Pigfish) today

I hope that this booklet has brought about a little more perspective on how we see our Habanos today.

It's always good to learn from the past so that we can appreciate what we have today.

Hope you've enjoyed.

[CigarmanTim]

Outstanding Guy! I can't find this anywhere but some museum...correction.. found 1

[Puros Y Vino]

What a find. You'd be doing a great service if every page managed to get scanned into PDF format.

[Wicky]

Makes my mind wander to visiting Martins shop 7 decades ago.

Thanks Guy.

[Dbone]

Wow, that was awesome. Great read. I'm sure there are a lot of us who view the Havana cigar in the same light. Real cool stuff Guy.

[coneatty]

Truly outstanding. Thank you for sharing this.

[adic88]

God, in those days, junk mail actually was worth reading!

Thanks for the find, great reading.

[CanuckSARTech]

Awesome find, Guy. Just a question though, and don't mean to be a downer, but are these okay to share? Any copyright concerns or possibility of an upset publisher by scanning and posting here? I've done that in the past, and didn't think about it at first.

As long as no issues, I'm thoroughly happy that you're sharing these with us. A very interesting read.

[Puros Y Vino]

Awesome find, Guy. Just a question though, and don't mean to be a downer, but are these okay to share? Any copyright concerns or possibility of an upset publisher by scanning and posting here? I've done that in the past, and didn't think about it at first.

As long as no issues, I'm thoroughly happy that you're sharing these with us. A very interesting read.

The copyright should be long gone if we're talking 1939. It expired long ago. Plus I doubt Martin's is in business to contest it.

Addendum. This company is also registered in Cuba, which would pretty much make any legal issues murky. Had they been registered in the UK, the copyright I believe extends to 70 years past the authors's death. Anyone know any different?

[maalouly]

The copyright should be long gone if we're talking 1939. It expired long ago. Plus I doubt Martin's is in business to contest it.

Addendum. This company is also registered in Cuba, which would pretty much make any legal issues murky. Had they been registered in the UK, the copyright I believe extends to 70 years past the authors's death. Anyone know any different?

Great read Guy! Love your work as always.

Guys do you raelly believe that Cuba is going to take legal action against Guy for sharing their history LOL

[aes8]

What!? Only 5% discount for 1000 cigars???

God love the grey market.

[laficion]

Any copyright concerns or possibility of an upset publisher by scanning and posting here? I've done that in the past, and didn't think about it at first.

Thank you for your concern Keith, I did think of that so I did a search on it thru the copyrights office in the UK, USA and

Internationl coypyrights offices.

There is no copyright on this, more of a promotional booklet, then a book. no references in the booklet either or elsewhere.

It was published by Martins cigar Merchant of London and the shop doesn't exist anymore since the begining

of World War 2. Of course, the other works of Charles Graves are copyrighted.

[dicko]

Thanks so much for sharing this Guy

[Stalebread]

Interesting stuff, Guy. Thanks for the thread.

It's interesting to me that they were concerned with "Scientific and automatic control of both temperature and humidity."

First, I would have guessed that those concerns were much more recent than the 1930s.

Second, what were the temperature and humidity in their conditioning rooms?

Finally, what about that "flannel-like conditioning bag"? I assume the box of cigars went into the bag. But it doesn't seem to me that a flannel-like material would do much to regulate temp or humidity.

Looking forward to the next installments.

[nonameno]

Hello Guy and fellow FOHer's,

This is a wonderful, rare find and fascinating reading. I look forward to your installments.

Thank you for sharing,

Curtiss

[Colt45]

Thanks Guy!

[Ryan]

That's great Guy, it looks like it'll be a really nice read.

The address where Martins was seems to have a carpet shop now. They had a good location, right in the middle of London's "cigar district" in St. James.

[Mr.T]

Great stuff, thanks so much for taking time to pull this information together. I look forward to reading it.

[mazolaman]

really enjoyed reading this Guy,cheers.

[Guest rob]

Cheers guy!

I love cigar related memorabilia.

[laficion]

Thank you all for your comments, I hope you'll enjoy the last part I've just put up

at the start of the thread. I think that we can learn a lot from the past and not make the

same mistakes for tomorrow .

Not only in cigars.

[Ryan]

Great stuff Guy.

I noticed in the second last image the blurb about the "Tweenies", "made from the little leaves which grow at the top of the plant".

Medio Tiempo wasn't always so special then huh?

[Scardinoz]

I quite liked the quote about offering a cigar to a visiting guest. Cigar smokers truly are some of the most generous people in the world.

"And to offer a first-class cigar to your guest, whether it is in the privacy of your own home or in a restaurant or hotel, is more than mere courtesy. It is a specific compliment to his appreciation of the finer things in life."

[thechenman]

Awesome post Guy. Loved reading it. Looking forward to future posts. Thanks for sharing this great find of yours with the community.

[laficion]

I noticed in the second last image the blurb about the "Tweenies", "made from the little leaves which grow at the top of the plant".

Medio Tiempo wasn't always so special then huh?

Great observation Andy, I was hoping someone would notice that.

As I said, you can learn a lot from the past