A Tale of the Cigar Factory (Grand Street, The Burg) by
Steve B:
My Mom and lots of the ladies on the 300 block of Genesee
Street worked at the Cigar Factory on Grand Street way
back when it was called Henry Clay and Bock. Then it became
the Cuban Tobacco Company until it was taken over by American
Tobacco. Yes its true they supplied British Statesman and
World War Two Prime Minister Winston Churchill with his smokes
as well as all the men on Genesee Street. Leave it to all those
old Hungarian women, each one worked in a different department
for each step in making cigars. Some were "bunchmakers", this
is the inside part, the filler. Others were wrappers, they would
wrap the filler. Finally, there were the finishers who would
wrap the cigar in the final fine tobacco. How do I know this?
Well, too late for any of them to get locked up now..
but each used to "borrow" a bit of what they worked on and
used to get together at my house to make cigars.
Why they even "borrowed" doll parts from Horsman Dolls, to
show you how industrious they were. When the Cigar Factory
went out on strike they got jobs at Horsman Doll Factory
and used to walk the picket line over at the Cigar Factory
on their lunch hour from the doll factory. What a great movie
this might make.........
4 comments:
Hi Steve B...my grandmom and mother both worked at the Cigar Factory. Mom later moved over to the one on Anderson St. We Hungarians always had plenty of the "Cubans" to give to friends, they had to provide their own box. My grandfather Istvan Freund, used to provide "Cubans" for all the elders at the Magyar Home.
My aunt also worked at Horseman Doll and used to throw doll parts out the window into the little alley at the side of the plant. Us kids were told what time to be there to pick them up and bring them home to be "assembled". I had 12-14 naked Horseman Dolls, until my other aunt made the clothes for them. An industrious peoples we are.
Freund? weren't they part of the Doctor Kondor family...
and oh yes, the Magyar Home, had some good times there, the dances, used to csardas and polka until we fell over, not to mention the annual pork and saur kraut, stuffed cabbage dinner in October, they used to be considered the Harvest Ball.. the old Kara Nemeth band from New Brunswick,, them days are gone forever...
Yes, SteveB...Dr Kondor was my uncle (married to Mary Freund, my dad John's sister). My maiden name is Barbra Freund. Spent lots of time at the Magyar Home myself-Easter, Christmas,Halloween Parties, Valentines Day dance, capusta dinners and just families getting together. Now they call the 50's and 60's "naive", I just call them good times that stay in my heart and will never return.
My grandfather was an Elder at the Home...actually just an excuse to get away from the wife, have a coupla warm beers and smoke a few pilfered "Cubans" with the guys.
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