recieved this e-mail back today about a recent find i have been researching had found info about the company but was not sure what it was the company started in 1886.
THIS QUESTION MAY BE ANSWERED IN CIGAR MAGAZINE
QUESTION
i recently discovered this cigar manufacturers coin while metal
detecting an older area of town. Do you have any kind of information
regarding it. Thank you in advance for your time regarding this item
ANSWER
Yours is a particularly interesting question to answer because I
wouldn't have been able to do so a year ago. I've only recently learned
that although this looks like an ordinary cigar store token, what you
found is a highly specialized box opener originally nailed on a SANCHEZ
y HAYA cigar box around end of the 19th century. This ad from an 1898
trade magazine called The United States Tobacco Journal announces the
introduction and application of your discovery. The opener was
originally attached to
a box of cigars by driving the nail that seals the box through the hole
in the coin size opener. The nail could then be removed by "a slight
twist" of the opener and the edge of the opener used to slice the label
and stamp, opening the box. Not only does this handy coin-type opener
do away with the need for a more traditional box opening tool (saving
grief for the retailer or smoker) but eliminates the need for an
ornamental paper "nail tag" to hide the nail. The ad describes this
novel invention as "ornamental and indestructible," a fair claim
considering yours was buried for nearly a century.
Prior to purchasing this ad a few months ago in preparation for the
National Cigar Museum exhibit on the 20 or so different types of box
openers, I would have been unable to answer your question. That's one
of the great pleasures of researching the history of the cigar
industry. After 56 years, I still learn new things constantly.
Interestingly, one of these holed openers originally used by a
different cigar maker turned up on ebay in November of 2008 where I
bought it just days before getting your letter. I'd be
interested in obtaining the one you found because it's from one of the
companies specifically mentioned in the manufacturer's ad and I'd like
to display it for others to see.
THIS QUESTION MAY BE ANSWERED IN CIGAR MAGAZINE
QUESTION
i recently discovered this cigar manufacturers coin while metal
detecting an older area of town. Do you have any kind of information
regarding it. Thank you in advance for your time regarding this item
ANSWER
Yours is a particularly interesting question to answer because I
wouldn't have been able to do so a year ago. I've only recently learned
that although this looks like an ordinary cigar store token, what you
found is a highly specialized box opener originally nailed on a SANCHEZ
y HAYA cigar box around end of the 19th century. This ad from an 1898
trade magazine called The United States Tobacco Journal announces the
introduction and application of your discovery. The opener was
originally attached to
a box of cigars by driving the nail that seals the box through the hole
in the coin size opener. The nail could then be removed by "a slight
twist" of the opener and the edge of the opener used to slice the label
and stamp, opening the box. Not only does this handy coin-type opener
do away with the need for a more traditional box opening tool (saving
grief for the retailer or smoker) but eliminates the need for an
ornamental paper "nail tag" to hide the nail. The ad describes this
novel invention as "ornamental and indestructible," a fair claim
considering yours was buried for nearly a century.
Prior to purchasing this ad a few months ago in preparation for the
National Cigar Museum exhibit on the 20 or so different types of box
openers, I would have been unable to answer your question. That's one
of the great pleasures of researching the history of the cigar
industry. After 56 years, I still learn new things constantly.
Interestingly, one of these holed openers originally used by a
different cigar maker turned up on ebay in November of 2008 where I
bought it just days before getting your letter. I'd be
interested in obtaining the one you found because it's from one of the
companies specifically mentioned in the manufacturer's ad and I'd like
to display it for others to see.