“It’s really a toy store for men,” explained Gary Blumenthal, who joined the business in 1985, as he led me through the store, pointing out the array of elegant gift items, the most eclectic of any smoke shop I’ve seen. There is a whole wall devoted to premium cigars, of course: all the leading brands, as well as the house brand, Amonte, along with several limited editions exclusive to Tinder Box. There are plentiful pipes and smoking accessories. There are also wine glasses and decanters, classic beer steins, crystal barware, fancy chess sets, and golf and fly-fishing accessories. There is a display case of male grooming and shaving goods, which Blumenthal claims is a fast-growing gift category among their customers. All in all, it’s a place where it would be easy for even the most shopping-phobic guy to spend an hour or so just looking around.

With a background in marketing and advertising, as well as his family’s ties with cigar producer Villazon and Company, Blumenthal has been instrumental in building Tinder Box into the nation’s premier chain of high-end smokeshops. And the Philadelphia store is situated firmly at the foundation of that growth. “This isn’t the first store,” Blumenthal clarified. “The original Tinder Box opened in 1928, in Santa Monica, California, and is still there. But this is the flagship in the sense that it’s the corporate store, where we do a lot of testing and try out a lot of new products.” Also, like their downtown counterparts at Holt’s, the corporate offices are also Philly-based. “We were based in California, but we felt we had to skedaddle out of there, what with the taxes, and Prop 10.”

Clearly, setting up shop in the City of Brotherly Love has been beneficial. “Knock on wood,” Blumenthal said, “but we’ve done very well. Even with the softened cigar market, we were up 20 percent last year. And the gift business just keeps on growing.” Part of the reason may also be the crossover appeal of the store’s professionally-designed decor. “Women feel very comfortable here,” Blumenthal revealed. “We have a lot of women buying for men in this store. And they often find things for themselves as well, like the picture frames, or wine items. Many of the items are unisex.”

The elegant, yet homey, feel of the Tinder Box is pervasive, all the way down to the laminated tobacco leaves on the restroom walls, and the lodge-like ambiance of Club Amonte, the store’s downstairs smoking lounge. The sumptuous sofa and plantation-style chairs, full bar, big-screen TV and weekly card games provide a welcome respite whether you’re a stressed out city dweller or a stir-crazy suburbanite. I knew that my last port-of-call - Philadelphia Cigar and Tobacco Company, hidden away in a mini-shopping complex in Northeast Philly - was going to be unique. Welcomed at the door by the store mascot - a Rottweiler named Opus X - and an autographed photo of pro wrestling icon Captain Lou Albano, I discovered a smokeshop with a distinctively no-nonsense, masculine vibe. It’s an atmosphere in which new owner Mike Dixon, a tattooed, boisterous former construction worker, takes pride. “It’s more blue-collar up here,” he said of the area, adding that the clientele is quite diverse: “We get everyone - construction guys, union guys, doctors, and lawyers. I’ve even got a judge who comes in.”

When Dixon bought the store last July, it had been mismanaged to the point that there were only two brands left on the shelves, and nothing ordered to replace them. Now the shelves are full, with an ever-growing stock of 500 premium brands, and a front section boasting 275 domestic brands. And with the walk-in traffic from the shopping center, the customer base is spreading. “I see new faces each day. And these new people who walk in become regulars,” Dixon said. He also pointed out the universality of his store’s appeal: “To me, everyone who comes in here is essentially the same, whether they want a cigar in the $3 range or if they can afford a $8-$12 Ashton or Don Carlos. We have custom-made humidors for $800 and we have others for $49. To me, everyone is equal, whether they’re here to spend one dollar or a hundred.”

The crowning glory of this particular store is the smoking lounge, a combination of your ideal basement rumpus room and your favorite sports bar. There are overstuffed couches and chairs, a large-screen TV, a well-stocked bar, and a bar-size pool table. This retreat is Dixon’s pride and joy, and welcomes, not just the regular customers, but the community at large. “Last Monday night, we had a group of 30 car salesmen here watching the Eagles game. A few days later, we had 25 kids having a Halloween party. We’ve even had bridal showers here.” And, of course, there are cigar events: “We had a tasting for Don Tomas,” Dixon revealed, “and to add some flair, I called in one of the local microbreweries to sponsor it. Then I called in one of the local pizza shops, and they kept hot pizzas coming every hour.”

With an hour or so to kill before my train home, I decided to visit Philadelphia’s famed Museum of Art - one of the top three art museums in the country, and, for the less culturally inclined, the building whose front stairs are immortalized in the film Rocky. Browsing the halls on my way to check out the Thomas Eakins exhibit, I came face-to-face with the final bit of evidence to satisfy my curiosity about Philadelphia. Standing proudly amongst the paintings and sculptures, bearing a plaque that identified its origins as being from the dawning days of our country - was an antique, hand-carved, wooden tobacco-store Indian.