O ne day in the late 1930's a reporter wrote, "Even in a quarter of an hour spent at the counter of Nat Sherman Tobacconist one witnesses more of a panaply of potentates and the near-famous and infamous than in an entire evening at Monte Carlo's casino." To which Nat added, "Yes...but with no losers." --FROM "SMOKING IN STYLE"" THE NAT SHERMAN CATALOG

Overlooking the historic New York Public Library at the corner of Fifth Ave. and 42nd Street, is the corporate conference room of Nat Sherman, "Tobacconist to the World." Around the mission-style table Nat's legacy is seated: his son Joel, with wife Myrna, and their three children, William, Larry, and Michele. These five descendents have inherited the sole responsibility of carrying on the success story created by Nat Sherman himself, as well as maintaining his legendary tradition.

Nat Sherman began his career at the age of seven, selling ice cream on New York's Lower East Side. Later, Nat's natural sales ability soon carnered him enough capital to enter into his most pivotal business partnership: a share of the Epoca Cigar factory. The rest became history.

A supurb businessman -- often described by his son Joel as the "P.T. Barnum of the tobacco world" -- Nat's first retail venture was a tobacco store located in the office building at 1400 Broadway, in the heart of New York's garment district. Later he moved his rapidly growing business to 711 Fifth Avenue, where many of the world's top celebrities at that time -- including Milton Berle, John Huston, Princess Grace, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Frank Sinatra -- shopped for their tobacco needs.

Growing quickly, Nat's company became one of only three importers licensed by the Cuban government east of the MIssissippi River. Nat was also the first to market individual plastic tips on cigars and later, with the help of his son Joel, built one of the most successful mail-order tobacco houses in the world. Now, perched in the very heart of Manhattan, sits Sherman's statement to the world: the massive 5,200 square-foot, two-story showcase at 500 Fifth Avenue. Designed by famous Broadway designer Charles McCarry, the store stands as a monument to over 65 years of dedication to the tobacco world, and the man whose hard work and genius made it what it is today: a true "Tobacconist to the World."

What follows is a conversation with the undisputed first family of New York City's tobacco trade...

See the remainder of this article in SMOKE magazine - available at a tobacconist or newsstand near you!