Cigar bands have a rich history, or more accurately, several histories. They’ve been attributed to the Russian queen Catherine the Great, and 19th century England, among other places. One story says that Catherine the Great ordered that her cigars be wrapped in silk to protect her fingers from becoming stained, so that afterwards, rings made of silk were put on cigars to mimic the queen. But even if she had smoked cigars (which there’s no evidence of) and had ordered silk wrappings, that probably wouldn’t have given birth to cigar bands on cigars made in faraway Cuba.

Another version says that in the 1800s, English ladies worried about soiling their white gloves while smoking cigars so they were wrapped with cigar bands allowing them to hold their stogies without staining their hands. And while apparently Spanish cigars from that era actually could stain your fingers, thanks to a chicory-shaded gum that wrapped them, dark wrappers were out of vogue by the middle of the century anyway.

And another version of the origin of cigar bands said they were designed to hold poorly rolled cigars together. Yet, cigar bands were supposed to in no way constrict the cigar. Cigar rolling in Cuba is an art form, with each cigar shaped, packed and rolled by hand. A band to hold it together is unnecessary, and a tight band would alter the density of the cigar, ruining the handwork by the masters. Also, Cuban cigars should have the bands removed before smoking, dispelling this theory.

As the finest cigars in the world have always come from Cuba, their version is more likely to be accurate. Gustave Bock ordered paper rings bearing his signature to be placed on every exported cigar. Banding was common by the middle of the 19th century. The band on a cigar became a badge of honor—people wanted to smoke cigars with cigar bands that bore certain brand names. With the popularity of cigar smoking in Americe, US makers upped production and bands were considered an unnecessary expense. By by the turn of the century, 80% of men in America smoked cigars, and cigar bands became a selling point for certain brands of cigars. Even cheap cigars bore colorful bands as part of their appeal to the consumer.

Cigar bands became throwaway items that people started clamoring to collect, much like matchbooks and bottlecaps. New band styles would sell out quickly, and albums for their collection were handed out by store owners and tobacconists. Then, similar to how green stamps worked, consumers could collect cigar bands and turn them in for other items household items like silverware, bedroom sets, footballs or magazine subscriptions. You could even combine them with tin tags from snuff and coupons from cigarettes.

The cigar bands most in demand are from this era and before. You can usually find vintage lots of cigar bands in online auctions for little money, though some of the more rare brands and designs command higher prices.

Originally posted 2008-10-19 05:00:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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