Everything about pipes and tobacco


Cigar Tidbits: To Put in Your Pipe and Smoke

The cigar has a lot of history, a lot ofexpedited, circumstances. For some women,
trivia, and a lot of interesting facts.diamonds are forever, but for others,
However, it's often easy to become soinfinity  belongs  to  the  cigar  band.
consumed with actually smoking the cigar, the
luxury of its aroma, its flavor, its essence,Cigar  Sayings
to remember any of the legends and tales
cigars light a match under. But, to miss outOne of the most popular sayings, Close by no
on these is to miss out on a lot of thecigar, is a euphemism for getting near
cigar's culture, miss out on itssuccess, only to have it evade you at the
extravagance, and destroy its past. So take alast moment. Though no one is 100 percent
moment every now and again to enjoy somepositive as to the origin of this saying,
cigar  tidbits...before  they go up in smoke.it's highly speculated that it came from old
carnival games and old slot machines. When
The  First  Connoisseursfirst invented, the carnival games wouldn't
pay out with plush toys stuffed with
While Christopher Columbus, in addition toStyrofoam and the slot machines wouldn't pay
being credited with the discovery of America,out with hard cash. Instead, the winners
is generally allowed to get away with writingwould receive cigars, leaving the loser to,
"cigar inventor" on his resume, he wasn'tof course, only take solace in the fact that
actually the first person to come up with thethey  were  close.
concept of smoking tobacco. According to
archeological discovery, the inhabitants ofThe  Zippo  Lighter
the Caribbean Islands and Mesoamerica smoked
cigars at least as far back as 900 A.D. ThisA lighter known for speed, perhaps marketed
discovery was made when researchersto the cigar smoker on the go, the Zippo
discovered a ceramic vessel at a Mayan ruinlighter was invented in 1932 in Bradford,
in Guatemala that was decorated with aPennsylvania by a man named George G.
painting of a cigar-smoking man. This man,Blaisdell. It was invented not only to light
likely diseased, was not available fora cigar at a more rapid rate, but to provide
comment.cigar smokers with a portable convenience -
something that could fit in a pocket, a
The  Invention  of  the  Cigar  Bandbriefcase, or a golf bag. It is rumored to
have been named "The Zippo" because Blaisdell
To the non-smoker, the cigar band may soundliked  how  the  word  "zipper"  sounded.
like a group of musicians who get together in
a smoky basement, belting out songs aboutFrom  Henry  Clay  to  JFK
tobacco and singing "The Blues" over the
Cuban Trade Embargo. However, to the cigarThe brand Henry Clay is named for the 19th
smoker, the cigar band is an elemental partcentury senator from Kentucky. He was known
of  the  cigar,  full  of  color and history.as an illustrious leader, a statesman and
orator who often eased disagreements among
The cigar band, or cigar ring, is a circularfellow leaders. Henry Clay, like the cigars
piece of paper that's wrapped around the headnamed for him, was renowned with the ability
of most cigars. In legend, it's said to haveto evoke a sense of calmness, leading those
been invented by either Spanish Nobles orinto the room into a compromised agreement.
Catherine the Great, the women who reigned asIn 1957, JFK, a cigar lover himself, named
Empress of Russia in the late 1700's andHenry Clay as one of the top five US Senators
early 1800's. The reason for the invention,in  the  history  of  America.
as the legend attests, was because these
nobles, fond of cigars, were not fond of theThe  Smoking  Jacket:  Smoking  Hot  Fashion
stains cigars left on their gloves. Thus,
they invented a band where they could placeThe smoking jacket, nowadays, is rarely worn,
their fingers, keeping them stain free whilewith one occasionally popping up in portraits
smoking.hanging above fireplace mantels. But, during
Victorian Times, smoking jackets were all the
However, other legends state that therage. Because people believed that women had
invention of the cigar band was the genius oftender nostrils, and would thus be sensitive
Gustave Bock, a Dutch advertising guru. Histo the aroma of tobacco, men often donned a
reasoning for the invention was simply tosmoking jacket before lighting up a cigar.
help keep the cigar together, binding theWhile it initially was worn to appease women,
wrapper to the filler in a more cohesivesmoking jackets, made of expensive material,
manner.eventually  became  a  sign  of  status.
Whether invented by European nobility or as aCigar tidbits are a dime a dozen; there are
promotional tool, the cigar band carries withenough out there to fill the world's largest
it a lot of lore. To start, most cigar bandsashtray. From lore to factual information,
are printed with the name of the brand, thecigars have been a part of the world for
country from which it came, and an indicationlonger than most other things: if they could
as to whether or not it was hand-rolled. Intalk, they'd probably never shut up, engaging
addition, the cigar band is said to have beensmokers with stories and tales. When it comes
used in many wedding ceremonies of yore, whendown to it, the cigar is simply
the groom could either not afford a weddingmulti-talented; it's rich with the lives of
band, misplaced it, or asked for a woman'sthe puffers of yore, and enriching the lives
hand in marriage under spontaneous, andof the modern-day smoker.



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