Cigar Label Art

Cigar Label Art

I went through a phase in my twenties when I smoked a lot of cigars. There was a cigar stand on my way to work which was very convenient. I would stop by daily and try a different cigar. Obviously when I found one I liked I would buy more of them.

Eventually I ended up with a pile of cigar labels. My sister is an accomplished artist and owns her own interior design company. She took all my labels and made this great collage. This was probably 25 or more years ago and the piece is starting to show some age. May need to be reframed sometime in the future.

CIGAR HISTORY
The origins of cigar smoking are unknown. A Mayan ceramic pot from Guatemala dating back to the 10th century depicts people smoking tobacco leaves tied with a string.

European discovery by a couple of Columbus's sailors is pegged at October 12, 1492, in Cuba. The Taino [TAH-ee-no] natives were reported to have been smoking a cigar made of dried tobacco leaves wrapped in palm or plantain leaves.

OLDEST CIGAR COMPANY
One of the oldest cigar brands still in production, H. Upmann cigars were founded in 1844. The company is named for founder Herman Upmann. Today they are made in Cuba and in the Dominican Republic, and are distributed to the US by Altadis.

The favourite cigar of US President John F. Kennedy was the now-discontinued, machine-made H. Upmann Petit Upmann.