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| Diese Seite basiert auf dem Artikel "[http://www.smokemag.com/0907/feature.htm Cigar City USA]", Smoke Magazine Online, Issue 4/2007.
| | [[Bild:key_west.jpg|thumbnail|Bildquelle: [http://www.smokemag.com/0907/feature.htm Smoke Magazine Online]]] |
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| Key West in Florida setzte in den letzen Jahren vermehrt auf die Zigarrentradition als Tourismusmagnet. Während langer Zeit wurde diese Opportunität nicht wahrgenommen. Und das, obwohl der kubanische Tabak seit 1868 eine wichtige Rolle in Key West spielt und die Touristen noch so gerne die [[Zigarrenfertigung]] beobachtet und die Produkte genossen hätten. Das hat sich massiv geändert. Key West gilt als Cigar City in den USA. | | =Geschichte= |
| | Laut dem Artikel "[http://www.smokemag.com/0907/feature.htm Cigar City USA]" des Smoke Magazine Online setzt [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_West Key West] in Florida seit einigen Jahren auf die Zigarre als Tourismusmagnet. Während langer Zeit wurde diese Opportunität nicht wahrgenommen. Und das, obwohl der kubanische Tabak seit 1868 eine wichtige Rolle in Key West spielt und die Touristen noch so gerne die [[Zigarrenfertigung]] beobachtet und die Produkte genossen hätten. Das hat sich nun massiv geändert. Key West gilt heute als Cigar City der USA. |
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| Begonnen hat alles mit dem [[Historisches„EGuerra_Larga“ 1878-1879|Guerra Larga]] auf Kuba. Damals setzten kubanische Migranten den Grundstein für die rasch aufkeimende Zigarrenindustrie in den Keys von Florida. Die Bedingungen für die aus Kuba gekommenen Facharbeiter waren perfekt: Kubanischer Tabak war sehr nahe und problemlos erhältlich und das Klima war nahezu gleich wie auf Kuba. Im Gegensatz zu Manufakturen im Norden der USA waren die Hersteller in den Keys nicht auf aufwändige [[Humidor]]- und Lageranlagen angewiesen. | | Begonnen hat alles mit dem [[Historisches#.E2.80.9EGuerra_Larga.E2.80.9C_1868_bis_1878|Guerra Larga]] auf Kuba. Damals setzten kubanische Migranten den Grundstein für die rasch aufkeimende Zigarrenindustrie in den Keys von Florida. Die Bedingungen für die aus Kuba gekommenen Facharbeiter waren perfekt: Kubanischer Tabak war sehr nahe und problemlos erhältlich und das Klima war nahezu gleich wie auf Kuba. Im Gegensatz zu Manufakturen im Norden der USA waren die Hersteller in den Keys nicht auf aufwändige [[Humidor]]- und Lageranlagen angewiesen. |
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| Die Zigarren aus Key West, die vollständig aus kubanischem Tabak hergestellt wurden, nannten sich "Clear Havanas". Sie standen im Ruf, den Originalen von der benachbarten Insel in keinerlei Weise nachzustehen. Der grösste Unterschied war im Preis anzusiedeln. Clear Havanas kosteten rund einen Drittel weniger als die [[Habanos|Havannas]]. | | Die Zigarren aus Key West, die vollständig aus kubanischem Tabak hergestellt wurden, nannten sich "Clear Havanas". Sie standen im Ruf, den Originalen von der benachbarten Insel in keinerlei Weise nachzustehen. Der grösste Unterschied war im Preis anzusiedeln. Clear Havanas kosteten rund einen Drittel weniger als die [[Habanos|Havannas]]. Dies, weil keine Import- und Exportsteuern zu bezahlen waren. 1872 publizierte das renommierte Fachmagazin "The Tabacco Leaf" einen Artikel über die "Clear Havanas" und verglich sie mit den besten aus Kuba importierten Zigarren. Ein Jahr später schon fertigten über 8000 [[Torcedores]] rund 1,35 Millionen Zigarren in Florida. In diesen Boomzeiten wurde der Anteil von qualitativ hochstehenden [[Longfiller]]n gegenüber maschinengefertigten [[Shortfiller]]n immer kleiner. Nichtsdestotrotz waren in ganz Key West Zigarrenplakate und Dachbeschriftungen mit den verschiedenartigsten und buntesten Marken und Botschaften zu sehen. |
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| Key West�s transformation could not have emerged if it were not for the cigar artisan �migr�s and the arrival of manufacturers who relocated either from Cuba or New York. A new generation of far-sighted cigar entrepreneurs descended with the capital to invest in the new cigar frontier. Key West cigars�the all-Cuban leaf type were known as �Clear Havanas��proved to be equal in quality to those imported from Cuba, and they were sold for nearly a third less than Havana cigars since they did not have to pay high import or export taxes. When Cuba�s second struggle for a �Cuba Libre� erupted in 1895, (becoming the 1898 Spanish American War), silhouettes of Florida�s cigar factories had become, to Cubans, the allegorical southern Statue of Liberty.
| | Selbstverständlich tummelten sich viele schwarze Schafe auf dem lukrativen Markt. Oft wurde Tabak aus New York oder Pennsylvania für die Produktion verwendet und als "Clear Havana" ausgegeben. Gelegentlich wurden bestehende Labels, die seit jeher inländischen [[Tabak]] verwendeten, einfach mit einem spanisch klingenden Namen versehen. Dies um bei den Konsumenten den Eindruck zu erwecken, dass die Zigarren aus kubanischem Tabak hergestellt würden. |
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| Success of Key West cigars was evidenced as early as 1872 when the prestigious New York City tobacco journal, The Tobacco Leaf, published an article stating that �the popularity of Key West cigars lay in the popular relish for genuine Havana cigars...equal in every respect to the finest cigars imported from Cuba.� The Tallahassee Sentinel and Key West Dispatch published running accounts of the new industry�s success, and by 1873, over 8,000 of Key West�s Cuban �migr�s were producing 1.35 million cigars making a combined daily salary payment of $10,000 a day. Key West Custom House receipts went from a few thousand dollars in 1869 to over $222,371 by 1876.
| | =Clear Havana Zigarren= |
| | Auf der REON-Webseite sind [http://www.reon.com/cigpic.htm Clear Havana-Labels] alphabetisch aufgereiht, die teilweise noch erstanden werden können. Zum Beispiel auch eine Kiste American Eagle Extra Fina. |
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| By the 1880s visitors arriving by steamer to Key West�s docks looked over the city to see cigar factory rooftops resembling large business cards. They were painted with advertisements proudly listing brand names and boldly posted the prestigious address of New York distribution offices. Key West-Havana-New York shipping lines flourished, transporting Cuban tobacco leaf from Havana, cigar boxes from the North, and Key West cigars to New York distribution offices on Maiden Lane to national and worldwide markets.
| | [[Bild:american eagle extra fina.jpg]] |
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| During tobacco harvesting season in Cuba, Key West factory owners descended into Havana via steamers, usually checking into the prestigious Hotel Presidente before touring the Cuban countryside to acquire their coveted tobacco leaf. The more prominent Key West manufacturers owned their own tobacco fields while those not so fortunate visited gigantic tobacco warehouses, purchasing tobacco at auction which was shipped to their Key West factories. The New York-Key West-Havana route became even more active in the 1880s when railroads connected New York City to the northern Florida cities of Jacksonville, Cedar Key, and later Tampa Bay where passengers transferred to steamers departing to Key West or Havana.
| | <small>Bildquelle: [http://www.reon.com/cigpica.htm REON]</small> |
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| Cigar Making�s Darker Side
| | =Clear Havana Produktion= |
| But Key West�s success did not come without corruption. The meteoritic rise in its cigar sales created deceitful practices by unscrupulous manufacturers wishing to share in the profitable Key West trade. Cigars rolled from domestic tobacco in New York and Pennsylvania was often advertised as �genuine Key West Cuban cigars.� Attuned to this type of fraud, the ever powerful and influential The Tobacco Leaf published numerous expos�s regarding these dishonest practices. Other devious practices included adopting Spanish sounding names for domestic tobacco cigar brands, such as �La Lande� instead of a grammatically correct �La Tierra.� Unfortunately, the common consensus was that the general public could be easily duped into believing that if a cigar had a Spanish-sounding brand name, it was an authentic Key West or Cuban cigar. (The �what do you want: good grammar or good taste?� cigarette promotion from of 1960s comes to mind.) One Philadelphia manufacturer boasted his cigars were authentic Cubans since they were rolled from domestic tobacco by Cuban artisans. Another reputedly asked his Cuban workers to speak loudly as visitors walked through the factory, giving the illusion that, since cigar makers spoke Spanish, their cigars would be excellent. If it�s true that imitation is a form of flattery, Key West manufacturers should have been honored!
| | Im (englischsprachigen) Artikel "[http://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/features/cigar-production.html Hecho a Mano - Cigar Production in Tampa and Ybor City 1886-1939]" beschreibt das Cigar City Magazine detailliert die verschiedenen Entwicklungsstufen der Clear Havana-Produktion. |
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| Cayo Hueso was virtually an appendage of Cuba in �La Florida,� evident throughout the island. New cigar factory�s worker cottages and neighborhoods were constructed in previously unoccupied parts of the island, becoming known locally as Cuban colonies. Spanish language and music resonated through the streets while weekly Key West newspapers printed in Spanish were eagerly read to cigar artisans by lectors in the cigar factories. Coffee shops and restaurants offered a Cuban cuisine rivaling that of Havana. The impact of Cuban Americans can best be exemplified when, in 1876, Key West�s mayor, Carlos Manuel de Cepedes, spoke only Spanish.
| | [[Bild:clear havana production.jpg]] |
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| The phenomenal growth of a new cigar production center enraged America�s tobacco king, James Buchanan Duke. He tried but failed to control the one aspect of the tobacco trade he did not monopolize, the Key West cigar industry. In the early 1890s, Duke opened the Blackwell�s Durham Tobacco Company, factory #20, in Key West, producing a cigar called �Marcello Key West.� Mysteriously, the factory closed shortly after opening, and then Duke had his cigar brand produced briefly by a Key West cigar artisan, Antonio de la Rosa. He even attempted to infiltrate Havana by purchasing a few cigar factories through agents, but the tobacco giant was unable to penetrate the profitable Key West Cuban cigar trade. His failure resulted, in part, from his inability to communicate in Spanish, but also because he could not understand the Cuban way of doing business. In addition, there was tremendous opposition from powerful Cuban trade unions in Key West. Duke�s wealth and power was insufficient to cross cultural boundaries in order to control the Key West cigar industry. That was accomplished by Spanish and Cuban cigar manufacturers and Spanish speaking managers acting as translators of Cuban business practices to non Spanish speaking manufacturers from the North.
| | <small>Bildquelle: [http://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/features/cigar-production.html Cigar City Magazine]</small> |
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| Culture Rises from Cuban Cigarmaking
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| Throughout the Cuban American experience, �migr�s maintained their cultural identities, language, and respect for the elderly in spite of the fact they were located in the heartland of Dixie. Cuban �migr�s supported health and social organizations originating from Cuba, financed by deducting a few cents from each worker�s weekly paycheck. While workers in Havana often lived in over-crowded tenement houses, conditions were better and less expensive in Key West. Theater, dances, music, and the Cuban mentality made Key West a home away from home, with the added luxury of not having to deal with Spanish political control.
| | *[http://www.smokemag.com/0907/feature.htm Cigar City USA]", Smoke Magazine Online, Issue 4/2007, Stand: 12.1.2008 |
| | | *[http://www.reon.com/cigpica.htm Clear Havana Labels by REON], Stand: 12.1.2008 |
| To assure an ample supply of laborers, cigar manufacturers constructed homes adjacent to factories, wooden framed structures built from termite-proof Dade County pine with high ceilings for ventilation. They were elevated off the ground, allowing air to flow under the houses where roosters and hens lived and were part of the family, raised for eggs or meat or were trained for cock fights. Although small by today�s standards, these cottages were far superior to living conditions in Havana, certainly far superior to deplorable tenement houses in Northern cities. Many times a cigar artisan would change jobs to another factory simply to have a newer house to live in. These homes were offered for inexpensive rent or with the option to purchase at a reasonable price to maintain a stable work force.
| | *[http://www.cigarcitymagazine.com/features/cigar-production.html Cigar City Magazine], Stand: 12.1.2008 |
| | | *[http://www.kwcigarfactory.com/key_west_cigars_history.php The Long and Rich History of the Original Key West Cigar Factory], Stand: 12.1.2008 |
| One of the most historical areas of Key West was a cigar community called Gatoville, the first successful industrial cigar community in the United States near the eastern side of the island, along Whitehead Street. Gatoville was representative of Key West�s Cuban �colonies� where �migr�s resided alongside cigar factories. It was established in 1876 as a suburb of Key West by exiled cigar maker Eduardo Hidalgo Gato who originally fled Cuba in 1869 to New York City. Employed as a cigar roller, he accumulated sufficient capital to relocate to Key West in 1876 and build not only a factory of his own but a thriving industrial community which offered worker cottages, a streetcar line, a hospital, and even baseball teams. Sr. Gato generously contributed to Jos� Mart�s revolutionary party and also encouraged private enterprise, giving rise to grocery stores, pharmacies, dry goods stores, sandwich shops, even small mom-and-pop cigar shops, all owned by private �migr�s. The concept of company towns, so common throughout the United States, never existed in Key West, whose �colonies� were operated as private enterprises, representing entrepreneurialism at its best. Gato represented a cross-cultural businessman: he understood the importance of maintaining personal ties to his workers while assisting them in the development of their community. He adopted entrepreneurialism of American business ingenuity to market and distribute cigars while considered a Patron by residents of his successful industrial neighborhood.
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| In the late 1890s, Key West was populated by Cubans of all colors living and working harmoniously while residing in the heartland of Dixie and a segregated South. It was a city with a unique cultural kaleidoscope. Other Cuban �migr� towns later emerged in Tampa�s Ybor City, West Tampa, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Marti City, and other small towns throughout Florida�all copying Key West as their prototype. By 1900, nearly 30 percent of Florida�s entire population was Cuban �migr�s who adopted and expanded upon the American Dream.
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| Today, it takes only an educated eye to spot Cuba�s legacy in Key West. Street vendors along Duval Street often pawn off what they call Cuban cigars rolled from domestic tobacco but made by Cubans. While the historical deception in cigar sales continues, Cuban cigar heritage abounds. What were once cigar factories, tobacco warehouses, or social clubs are now restaurants. Condominiums, businesses, government offices, and numerous prominent manufacturers� homes are elegant guest houses. Club San Carlos, the first social organization transported from Cuba in 1871, still functions as a center for cultural events on Duval Street, while The Cuban Club, originally constructed in 1910 to adjoin the cigar factory of Cayatano Soria, is now the Cuban Club Condominiums. A popular Key West hotel and entertainment center, La Ti Da (La Tereza de Mart�), was once the palatial residence of a cigar manufacturer, now a historical landmark. In 1891, Cuban patriot Jos� Mart� spoke from its second floor balcony to Cuban cigar workers, calling for the establishment of a �Cuba Libre.�
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| When you visit Key West, smoke a cigar while watching the sunset at Mallory Square. Tour Key West�s famous graveyard, with the remains of Cuban cigar workers, manufacturers, and soldiers who lost their lives aboard the battleship Maine. And don�t forget to look at cigar workers� cottages along the streets. They are yet another Cuban American heritage about to unfold before your eyes. And make this tour while smoking your favorite cigar to make it a memorable time you will not soon forget. You will see why Key West has been, and always will be, the home of the American cigar industry. It is indeed, Cigar City, U.S.A.
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Geschichte
Laut dem Artikel "Cigar City USA" des Smoke Magazine Online setzt Key West in Florida seit einigen Jahren auf die Zigarre als Tourismusmagnet. Während langer Zeit wurde diese Opportunität nicht wahrgenommen. Und das, obwohl der kubanische Tabak seit 1868 eine wichtige Rolle in Key West spielt und die Touristen noch so gerne die Zigarrenfertigung beobachtet und die Produkte genossen hätten. Das hat sich nun massiv geändert. Key West gilt heute als Cigar City der USA.
Begonnen hat alles mit dem Guerra Larga auf Kuba. Damals setzten kubanische Migranten den Grundstein für die rasch aufkeimende Zigarrenindustrie in den Keys von Florida. Die Bedingungen für die aus Kuba gekommenen Facharbeiter waren perfekt: Kubanischer Tabak war sehr nahe und problemlos erhältlich und das Klima war nahezu gleich wie auf Kuba. Im Gegensatz zu Manufakturen im Norden der USA waren die Hersteller in den Keys nicht auf aufwändige Humidor- und Lageranlagen angewiesen.
Die Zigarren aus Key West, die vollständig aus kubanischem Tabak hergestellt wurden, nannten sich "Clear Havanas". Sie standen im Ruf, den Originalen von der benachbarten Insel in keinerlei Weise nachzustehen. Der grösste Unterschied war im Preis anzusiedeln. Clear Havanas kosteten rund einen Drittel weniger als die Havannas. Dies, weil keine Import- und Exportsteuern zu bezahlen waren. 1872 publizierte das renommierte Fachmagazin "The Tabacco Leaf" einen Artikel über die "Clear Havanas" und verglich sie mit den besten aus Kuba importierten Zigarren. Ein Jahr später schon fertigten über 8000 Torcedores rund 1,35 Millionen Zigarren in Florida. In diesen Boomzeiten wurde der Anteil von qualitativ hochstehenden Longfillern gegenüber maschinengefertigten Shortfillern immer kleiner. Nichtsdestotrotz waren in ganz Key West Zigarrenplakate und Dachbeschriftungen mit den verschiedenartigsten und buntesten Marken und Botschaften zu sehen.
Selbstverständlich tummelten sich viele schwarze Schafe auf dem lukrativen Markt. Oft wurde Tabak aus New York oder Pennsylvania für die Produktion verwendet und als "Clear Havana" ausgegeben. Gelegentlich wurden bestehende Labels, die seit jeher inländischen Tabak verwendeten, einfach mit einem spanisch klingenden Namen versehen. Dies um bei den Konsumenten den Eindruck zu erwecken, dass die Zigarren aus kubanischem Tabak hergestellt würden.
Clear Havana Zigarren
Auf der REON-Webseite sind Clear Havana-Labels alphabetisch aufgereiht, die teilweise noch erstanden werden können. Zum Beispiel auch eine Kiste American Eagle Extra Fina.
Bildquelle: REON
Clear Havana Produktion
Im (englischsprachigen) Artikel "Hecho a Mano - Cigar Production in Tampa and Ybor City 1886-1939" beschreibt das Cigar City Magazine detailliert die verschiedenen Entwicklungsstufen der Clear Havana-Produktion.
Bildquelle: Cigar City Magazine
Links
