Notes About The Cigar Factory On Grand Street, The Burg

Notes About The Cigar Factory On Grand Street, The Burg

From Ellarsie Museum:

Many people have forgotten - or never knew - that Trenton was
a major producer of premium cigars, handrolled from Cuba's
finest tobacco leaves by female workers in factories that
flourished in Trenton for much of the 20th century.
In 1955, there were 3,000 people rolling cigars in Trenton.
Cigar rollers were respected craftsmen, and their wage could
support a family.
A Cuban cigar refers to where the tobacco leaves were grown,
not where the cigar was rolled. One of the biggest clients of
Trenton rolled cigars was former British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, who preferred a particular type of Trenton
cigar that came to be known as "Churchills." Just having the
Churchill account could keep a factory in business.
As one of his valets, Roy Howells, wrote in his book, Simply
Churchill, "It took me a little while to get used to the fact
that in two days his Cuban cigar consumption was the equivalent
of my weekly salary."
During the Depression, many were in bread lines. In Trenton,
the cigar industry was on a roll. Workers were paid by the leaf
or by the hour - 10 cents an hour - considered a good wage at
that time.
Strippers, the workers who tore the central vein from each
tobacco leaf, were paid by the leaf. Selectors who selected and
sorted leaves according to their color, quality and size, were
paid by the hour. Bales of tobacco were stored in the basement
while cigars were rolled on the second floor.Machine-rolled
cigars didn't come into the mix until the 1950s although hand
rolled cigars are considered by aficionados to be superior.