 |
Fall 98 Volume III Issue 4 |
|
|
Fall 98 Volume III Issue 4 |
Savoring
Ybor'sYbor City was founded in 1886 by cigar manufacturers Vincent-Martinez Ybor and Don Ignacio Haya, who were drawn to Tampa Bay by the climate, offers of land, and $4,000 in cash. In Key West due to troubles with the Cuban Government, Ybor and Haya were looking to distance themselves from labor problems. They were pointed toward Tampa Bay by an engineer who had visited the area in search of guava trees, but found only swampland, palmettos, and fishermen.
The cigar magnates drew more manufacturers to the area by building factories for them. They built a prosperous city of nearly 250 cigar factories with 30,000 employees that, at one point, produced over 400 million cigars per year - more cigars than in any other place in the world.
As a side effect of the industry, the area became populated with a unique mixture of Italian, Cuban, and Spanish immigrants. This cultural amalgam produced a close-knit community whose ethnic groups supported one another with mutual-aid societies and communal medical care. With unified resources, the immigrants built large social clubs that served as credit unions, hospitals, and gathering places. This mini-Havana valued culture. Several opera houses, hotels, and ballrooms were built when the industry was booming.
Ybor City was the "Cigar Capital of the World" for over 50 years and, in some ways, still is. It is an historic district haunted by ghosts of anarchists, revolutionaries, and industrialists who laid the groundwork for the modern cigar industry. And the modern cigar industry has deep ties with Ybor City.
The morning sun does not mourn Ybor City. A genesis rooted in tobacco built the city, and an epiphany as an entertainment district kept it alive. The workers' shotgun cottages have been leveled, and the factories closed. The city has become the tobacco industry's Allentown. Now, only the J.C. Newman factory is fully operational, and the other factories have new uses: one houses a brewery and another is home to a mall and several restaurants.
|
Columbia Restaurant
Gonzalez & Martinez Cigar Factory 2103 E. 7th Ave. Ybor City, FL 33605 (813) 247-2469 This historic restaurant is an Ybor City landmark. A substantial humidor is used to age their own brand of handrolled cigars prior to making them available to the public. Rolling demonstrations are held during special hours. |
|
|
Metropolitan Cigars
2014 E. 7th Ave. Ybor City, FL 33605 (813) 248-3304 (800) 607-3304 The building housing Metropolitan Cigars is a 1,700-square-foot walk-in humidor. The shop is an authorized Diamond Crown and Fuente Fuente OpusX dealer, and has a substantial selection of superior smokes. Owner James Capitano often has rare and vintage cigars available. And if you prefer a pipe, Capitano has those too, not to mention imported cigarettes, and many accessories. |
|
El Sol Cigars
1728 E. 7th Ave. Ybor City, FL 33605 (813) 248-5905 (813) 247-5554 Selling handmade cigars since 1929, El Sol is Ybor City's oldest cigar shop, and features a 350-square-foot walk-in humidor that is home to nearly 40 brands. Next to the shop, a roller works at an antique table with his chevato (cigar-maker's blade), cutting the wrapper and then rolling cigars for an audience. They also sell humidors and artwork, so you can escape from the sun and construct a small shrine to the gods of the great leaf and offer a sacrifice. |
|
|
Tampa Rico Cigar Company
Ybor Square: 1901 13th St. Ybor City, FL 33605 (813) 247-6738 (800) 892-3760 Ybor Square was Vincent Martinez Ybor's cigar factory, and was once the largest cigar factory in the world. Now, the building houses several restaurants, a shopping mall, and the Tampa Rico Cigar Company. This shop has a solid selection of pipes and pipe-tobacco including six house blends. They have a good selection of humidors, imported cigarettes, and smoking accessories. If you want to speak to the gentleman rolling cigars you will have to brush up on your Spanish. |
Continued on next page...
