Calling Columbo

[El Presidente]

One for the FOH Colombo brigade 

What can you tell us about it?

 

 

 

 

[Habana Mike]

Sold for 120 pounds 5 years ago.

Lot 39 – La Simbombo Deportivos – Circa 1960’s

£120

The warranty seal looks to be between 1931-1961 with the perforated edges. The manufacture stamp is old school. Text not enclosed.

Early Pre-Revolution Early pre-Revolution boxes were stamped: "MADE IN HAVANA-CUBA" in English capitals. The text in very early boxes was not enclosed.

1945 Federal Rester established maximum pricing:

They appeared in the 1944 OPA guide:

Note that the same guy in the OPA, Alex Goldman,  patented the name in the US in 1976. He'd probably be able to give you a little more insight except he has passed.

He also got busted for selling untaxed tobacco

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/article/tobacco-distributor-alex-goldman-sentenced-to-three-years-for-tobacco-tax-fraud

Seems the head of Swisher Sweets was living the Sweet life https://www.abc10.com/article/news/crime/feds-seize-millions-in-cash-cars-and-art-from-major-cigar-executive/103-277645954

https://halfwheel.com/news-swisher-international-enter-premium-market-royal-gold/35093/

 

https://www.findownersearch.com/owner-starbuzz-tobacco-inc-2019562-company-brands.html

Here are some other boxes:

Definitely some history here...

[NSXCIGAR]

Seal 31-61 but manufacture stamp is unique and very old and different on all the examples I can find, so I would say closer to 31 than 61. The box stamp is also in 4 languages which would suggest to me worldwide demand for this brand or at least a strong attempt to sell it worldwide.

It also has quite a few band variations so I would guess a large, evolving catalogue and a higher-end brand:

Not too many boxes seem to exist, so this cigar might have been very short lived. 

1 hour ago, Habana Mike said:

Sold for 120 pounds 5 years ago.

Lot 39 – La Simbombo Deportivos – Circa 1960’s

£120

I suspect this was a very good deal due to it being a relatively unknown brand and probably older than MO states. There aren't any pics of this lot but I would like to see the box as I strongly suspect they would not be from the 1960s. MO's assessment isn't one I would necessarily feel that confident about. "Circa 1960s" itself is a pretty absurd description since it would be pretty difficult to know any cigars made 1960-1961 and obvious what cigars were made post 1962 which these are not. So his "Circa 1960s" could only be 60 or 61 with no way to know...pretty sloppy. And that's without looking at the box stamp which could narrow it further.

Interestingly, none of the models from the boxes pictured online (Dalias or Deportivos) is listed in that Federal Register of 1945. Seeing as how this is clearly a global brand I would guess these would probably be from after that, so 1945-1961, although there's a chance it's 1931-1944 based on that unique manufacturing stamp.

[JohnnyO]

La Simbombo is not a word acknowledged by Spain's Real academy it comes from Catalan Simbomba. A word in Spanish that would be similar to it would be "La Tonta" or the dumb gal. About 15 years ago I brought over a bunch of pre-revolution rings from Cuba that were in a binder. There was a lot of personalized rings in the lot. Kings, Queens, Dukes, all the old hotel names, yacht clubs etc. There was even a Batista ring in the bunch. That one really drew my attention when I saw it. So it seems it was cost effective to have your own personalized cigars packaged back in the day. Not to say that this falls in that group but it would be possible to run in to hundreds or 1000's of  cigars that were packaged for a special occasion. John

[Habana Mike]

51 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Seal 31-61 but manufacture stamp is unique and very old and different on all the examples I can find, so I would say closer to 31 than 61. The box stamp is also in 4 languages which would suggest to me worldwide demand for this brand or at least a strong attempt to sell it worldwide.

It also has quite a few band variations so I would guess a large, evolving catalogue and a higher-end brand:

Not too many boxes seem to exist, so this cigar might have been very short lived. 

I suspect this was a very good deal due to it being a relatively unknown brand and probably older than MO states. There aren't any pics of this lot but I would like to see the box as I strongly suspect they would not be from the 1960s. MO's assessment isn't one I would necessarily feel that confident about. "Circa 1960s" itself is a pretty absurd description since it would be pretty difficult to know any cigars made 1960-1961 and obvious what cigars were made post 1962 which these are not. So his "Circa 1960s" would be either 60 or 61 wih no way to know...pretty sloppy.

Agreed. If anything they should have listed as pre-embargo undetermined YOP

 

[NSXCIGAR]

25 minutes ago, JohnnyO said:

La Simbombo is not a word acknowledged by Spain's Real academy it comes from Catalan Simbomba. A word in Spanish that would be similar to it would be "La Tonta" or the dumb gal. About 15 years ago I brought over a bunch of pre-revolution rings from Cuba that were in a binder. There was a lot of personalized rings in the lot. Kings, Queens, Dukes, all the old hotel names, yacht clubs etc. There was even a Batista ring in the bunch. That one really drew my attention when I saw it. So it seems it was cost effective to have your own personalized cigars packaged back in the day. Not to say that this falls in that group but it would be possible to run in to hundreds or 1000's of  cigars that were packaged for a special occasion. John

Judging from the number of personalized bands I've seen I would imagine bulk purchasing would have been much cheaper dealing with individual producers. And at that point personalized bands were probably a perk of bulk buying.

[Fugu]

One may perhaps narrow it further down to pre-1950, as during the 50s, all boxes would bear the round blue sticker of the "Comision Nacional". Problem is, that sticker could easily be missing from a box (i.e. not been applied), but should be found on the inner as well as the outer side of the lid. Still, it is not a 100% decisive token when not there.

[NSXCIGAR]

On 7/19/2020 at 4:53 PM, Habana Mike said:

Definitely some history here...

Nice BN box pictured there. I have to conclude based on all I've seen that this was definitely a high-end brand at one point. Surprising that a brand of that status existed after 1945 yet seems to have vanished completely by 61. 

The register you posted shows a fairly scaled-down catalog with none of the vitolas on the boxes that survive on that list. Perhaps the brand--although still in existence--had been substantially scaled back by 1945 and the brand's heyday was much closer to 1900 than 1945 so that by the 50s the brand was mostly forgotten.