At some point, Ybor City was known as the cigar capital of the world. He won this title in the 1930s. tampa It was Florida's largest city and home to over 150 cigar factories. Today, only the J.C. Newman cigar factory remains.
This massive, one-block, three-story brick building was built in 1910, features a 100-foot-tall clock tower, and is home to the nation's oldest family-owned luxury cigar manufacturer. Although they have come to rely on a few simple machines, they still mass-produce hand-rolled cigars just as they did over 100 years ago. Visitors can see the process on his 75-minute tours held three times a day. Every Friday, those interested can also learn the art of rolling their own cigars from a cigar rolling expert.
When this factory (named “El Reloj” after its giant clock) began operations, newspapers called it the largest and finest cigar factory in the world. In the late 19th century, the industry was in transition and moved north. key west Tampa is a port city close enough for Cuban tobacco shipments but less exposed to the fickle Caribbean weather. The population exploded from 600 in 1880 to nearly 40,000 in 1910, one of whom was a 78-year-old Hungarian cigar rollr named J.C. Newman. While dozens of surrounding cigar factories closed, JC Newman's factory has been passed down from generation to generation until today.
Visitors will see the process “from seed to smoking,” as the guide says. The leaves are dried and fermented, then a master roller rolls the leaves to separate the filler, binder, and wrapper into cigars. The cigars are pressed, shaped, quality controlled to correct any defects, and then stored for further aging before being packaged and sold. Of course, on a separate floor from the hand rollers is his mid-20th century rolling machine, into which the operator slides fermented tobacco leaves to more efficiently produce cigars.
The museum houses cigars, including (possibly) the last bag of Cuban tobacco before the embargo in the early 1960s, and (possibly) the world's oldest cigar, rescued from a shipwreck off the coast in 1857 and dehydrated. The museum also houses notable antiques related to the. Originally from Charleston, South Carolina. Of course, factory cigars and other specialty smoking products are available for purchase at the on-site cigar store.
