Then I did some reading and I found out that cigar box guitars were actually used by “real” musicians! According to Dr. Tony Hyman, the curator of the National Cigar Museum, cigar boxes prior to 1840 were actually crates. These crates could hold up to 100 cigars at a time. As time went by, manufacturers realized that the crates were not an efficient means of transporting cigars. Hence, smaller cigar boxes were created.

Along with the proliferation of cigar boxes, the popularity of cigar smoking increased as well. Naturally, a lot of smoked cigars meant a lot of empty cigar boxes. At this point, enterprising people started picking up those empty cigar boxes and started making good use of them. From guitars to banjos and fiddles – empty cigar boxes were turned into useful things.

Whoever got started on this probably didn’t have any idea of what was in store for these nifty little things. Well known musicians like Carl Perkins, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Ted Nugent, BB King, and Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd have all, at one point, played with cigar box guitars!

So it may be easier to buy guitars these days, but if you have some spare time and you want to let your creativity flow, why don’t you try your hand at making a cigar box guitar? Check out this video at Walyou.

Secondly, cigars are entirely expensive compared to one pack of cigarette. For some cigars such as Cuban or Havana manufactured cigars, the price of one piece of cigar may be equivalent or even more expensive than one pack of cigarette. This is largely due to the materials used in making one cigar roll. Tobacco leaves and storage is different and this can be attested to once they are given the chance to try them out.

The manner of smoking is different. For cigarettes they have filters and are inhaled. For cigars, it does not follow that people will inhale them all the time. Chances are they may even get dizzy if they inhale cigar fumes, but there are people who do so, probably because they have been accustomed to doing so with cigarettes beforehand.

Habanos SA and Cubatabaco are known to be the leading groups that handle the manufacturing and distribution of their finest roles produced. Such produced cigars are usually known to be hand made although there are some who also use machines to be able to produce bulk cigars bundles.

Ironically, Cuban cigars where introduced in Europe by the very same person who discovered America, Christopher Columbus. He is credited with this distinction from his numerous voyages, something that people are familiar with today. It is amazing that he too is responsible for making cigars known in Europe.

With the way cigar is supposed to be smoked (don’t inhale it!) more and more people are beginning to appreciate cigars and even the art of smoking them. Yuppies and young adults are rediscovering the unique set of experiences that cigar smoking brings to the table. Since these new fans of cigars are part of the new generation, they are using the tools that they are familiar with to further deepen their knowledge about cigars. They are now using online resources in order to learn about the anything and everything cigar related. There are even those who have joined forum sites in order to touch base with other cigar aficionados from all over the world.

Who said traditions can’t be modernized?

After the proper curing time for quality tobacco leaves has been derived, it would all depend on the person tasked to roll and produce the cigar products. The person assigned to do such rolling and packing of cigars can make multiple cigars in a day after which they are finely cut to size to fit in the usual carton cases we see today. The length of time to which they are stored is not a factor to be worried about, but on the contrary is better if they are stored lengthily under proper levels of temperature for more premium taste once they are lit.

Cigars have had the distinction of being entirely finely prepared and becoming more identified with people who put premium in puffing the quality manufactured tobaccos that are best known for manual labor preparations. People usually pair them with coffee or smoke them during special events such as newly born babies and parties. They are also offered to guests in corporate offices, mostly coming from the corporate offices of top honchos of large scale corporations.

Cigarettes are normally purchased for people who have become addicted to it. Besides the obvious difference is size, cigars hold a more prestigious billing once they are seen being lit anywhere. Some would call it a waste of money, but for others, it is a for of identified status symbol, something that is important for people who want to be identified in the world today.

Cigar smoking is believed to be addicting. Nicotine is the primary culprit that people would turn to but yet people would care less. Some would take up smoking to relax themselves, while there are people who really have no sufficient to smoke. Some would feel that it is just a form of identification to be accepted in social events.

But just the same, smoking would really be something a person would best avoid since it is a habit that is really hard to kick. The final decision on it would be on the person and depending on the actual reason why they do smoke these tobacco leaves for self-satisfaction.

Anyhow, here is some more information on Mark Twain, which you can learn from an exhibit which is due to open on December 1st at the UC Berkeley:

Titled “Mark Twain at Play,” it’s the first show in the new gallery of the revamped Bancroft Library, which was closed for seismic refitting in 2005 and will reopen in a few months.

The exhibit focuses on the writer’s leisure pursuits – from yachting and sketching to private social clubs and amateur theater – and how they influenced what he produced.

The exhibit, which features many items never seen before, was still taking shape Wednesday. It includes notebooks, photographs, letters, artifacts and a 1909 film with Twain in it.

The objects are as varied as the man himself. Born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Missouri in 1835, he published more than 30 books and pamphlets as well as a few thousand newspaper and magazine articles before he died in 1910 at age 74.

I am going on out a limb here, taking the chance that some of you might be interested in Mark Twain. After all, he is one of the greatest literary figures of all time.

So are cigar bands really important? Where did they originate from anyway? According to Garson Smart in his article, “Gustave Bock, a Dutch immigrant who owned a cigar factory in Cuba in the 1830s, is credited with being the first to place a paper band around his cigars. (Bock’s “cigar band” was just a paper ring with his signature on it.)”

This was supposed to originate from the fact that fake Cubans proliferated in the early 19th century. This was because the cigars back then were generally left unmarked. The manufacturers back then didn’t really pay much attention to the packaging and there were no proprietary marks on the cigars themselves.

After Gustave Bock started his cigar band practice, other cigar makers in Cuba started to follow suit. By the time half of the 19th century was gone, majority of the Cuban cigar makers were using cigar bands. More than preventing fakes, the practice of using cigar bands also helped create brand consciousness.

Older cigar smokers may be familiar with the story behind the embargo but for the younger ones, here is a bit of history (thanks to About.com):

Way back in February of 1962, President John F. Kennedy established a trade embargo against Cuba to sanction Fidel Castro’s communist regime, which seized control of the island in 1959, and then began to confiscate private property and other assets (including cigar companies).

Castro continued to be a thorn in the side of the United States. In October of 1962, during the height of the Cold War, he permitted the Soviets to construct missile bases on the island capable of striking the Untied States. The U.S. responded with a blockade of Cuba to prevent Soviet ships from delivering the materials to complete the project (not to be confused with the Cuban Trade Embargo, which started in February 1962).

As long as Fidel Castro still lives and Cuba’s government is still communist, the Cuban Trade Embargo is expected to remain in effect, despite efforts by some who are trying to build support for lifting the ban. In fact, the embargo was made even more restrictive in 2004. United States citizens cannot legally acquire or consume Cuban cigars, even while traveling abroad. This may be a law that is impractical to enforce, but it is still the law. There are substantial fines and penalties for violators, who are at a higher risk of being nabbed if they attempt to bring Cuban products (especially in large quantities) into the United States.

As you can see, this is not a question of quality or safety but of politics. As the French say, c’est la vie!