Just for perspective of the times, by 1900 cigar smoking was practiced
by possibly 5 out of 7 men.
The cigar industry was beyond anything we would imagine today. A town
of 10,000 might be supporting
4 or 5 full-time cigar stores. By the 1950's we were seeing the last of
this 19th century custom and their users.
A new and separate generation of cigar smokers came in the mid-1980's
to the 1990's. Boutique, custom,
fancy, and expensive cigars, accompanied by seriously expensive glossy
full color cigar magazines. But
this new generation of cigar smokers never approached the numbers of
followers as the 19th century group.
Kit Barry