"We were in the hand rolling business until the early 1960s," Bill Jr. says. The company began to introduce machine-made cigars in the 1940s, but continued to hand roll some cigars until no longer able to do so. "The economics of making a cigar, more than anything, made us move to machine-made cigars," Bill Sr. says.
Neither father nor son gives any quarter to hand rolled cigars. "The quality of machine-made cigars, if you know what you are doing, can be a whole lot better than a majority of handmade cigars," Bill Jr. insists. "They certainly are more consistent."
Bill Sr. echoes, "I've always believed that a good machine-made cigar is better than a fair handmade cigar."
Outside the cigar business, Bill Finck Sr. is also an attorney and lobbyist. He nurtures a reputation as an ornery politician. Elected three times as state representative in the late 1960s, he achieved distinction as being among Texas' most powerful politicians while chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. In the halls of the legislature Bill Sr. was fond of carrying a box of Travis Club Senators under his arm and passing them out.
"He's pretty well-known for that," Bill Jr. says. In 1982 Bill Sr. ran for Bexar County treasurer on a single promise -- that he intended to abolish the office. He refused to accept the job's $32,500 annual salary and used his first paycheck to light a Travis Club cigar while standing on the steps of the county courthouse. The treasurer's position was abolished by a Finck led referendum three years later.
When Finck subsequently threatened to run for justice of the peace, county commissioners responded by eliminating the office.
Finck Cigar employs about 80 people, many of them women, whose hands are more adept around cigar-making machinery, Bill Jr. says, with 50 or so women involved in production of the cigars. The entire Finck line and spot production for other companies keeps more than 60 machines clanging away.
Besides its own cigars, Finck distributes Mexican-made Cruz Real for Tabacos y Puros de San Andres S.A. de C.V. Finck plans soon to distribute a Honduran handmade version of its "Charles the Great" line, which until recently had been made by machine in the United States. Finck also recently stepped up production of its "Lamb's Club," line, which was previously imported in limited quantities from the Dominican Republic.
Although riding the crest of cigars' current popularity, Finck Cigar's longevity means that it's seen the good times and it's seen the bad times.
Finck Cigar Co. remained in business during the Depression by cutting the price of its cigars in half -- from 10 cent to 5 cents. "They were able to keep the entire group of employees during the Depression," Bill Jr. says.
The company's loyalty to its employees also spurred loyalty in return. In the late 1980s two employees -- Liberata Fernandez and Rafaela Sanchez -- retired after working for Finck Cigar for more than 70 years. Bill Jr. is proud of that. "When you have had something like this for four generations you want to keep it going," he says with a sweeping motion of his arm while standing on the factory floor. "It is something that we are especially proud of."
Before their retirement Fernandez and Sanchez told a local magazine that they remembered when Bill Sr. was born, having been hired by Henry William Finck. Sanchez succinctly described the company's founder as a "muy bien hombre."
The best cigar roller in Texas still works for Finck Cigar Co., according to Bill Jr. It's his father. "Rolling a cigar is not as easy as it looks. I can make something to smoke, but it doesn't look pretty. Dad still hand-makes his cigars every day, and they are good cigars. It's part of the tradition."
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