United States Directory of Cigar Manufacturers, Importers, Packers & Dealers offers a state-by-state (and city-by-city) list of cigar manufacturers at the time it was printed in 1902. There are a few really interesting things about this book:
- You can see the tremendous number of cigar manufacturers that used to exist in the United States. Cigar production used to be very local, with thousands of small manufacturers across the country. Over time, regional cigar brands grew. And then national and international brands grew. That changed the landscape dramatically.
- You can probably find a cigar manufacturer that existed near you in 1902, assuming you’re in the United States. They seemed to be just about everywhere.
- The same is true of leaf tobacco dealers – there had to be many of them to supply leaf to the network of small manufacturers.
- There are some really neat old ads in the book.
United States Directory of Cigar Manufacturers, Importers, Packers & Dealers is in the public domain and can be read for free on the Internet Archive.