Wages and Hours of Labor in the Clothing and Cigar Industries, 1911 to 1913 was published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1915 and contains, unsurprisingly, information about the wages of cigar workers at the time. Information about cigar manufacturing begins on page 61.
The report notes, “While regular hours are worked in some cigar factories, in many other factories no regular hours are observed, the employees going and coming as they desire.”1 Cigar rollers, for example, were paid by the number of cigars they created and not the number of hours worked, so they could set their own hours and earn as much or as little as they liked.
In 1913, “the rates and wages per hour of male employees in this industry, represented by 5 occupations, ranged from $0.1525 for stemmers or strippers to $0.4769 for packers. For females, represented by 8 occupations, the average rates of wages per hour in 1913 ranged from $0.1277 for stemmers or strippers to $0.2558 for cigar makers.”1 The report includes tables of pay for different occupations and in different areas of the United States.
It’s worth noting that wages were increasing during this time period. “In the industry as a whole, rates of wages per hour in 1913 were 4.5 per cent higher than in 1912 and 8.8 per cent higher than in 1911.”1
Wages and Hours of Labor in the Clothing and Cigar Industries, 1911 to 1913 is in the public domain and can be read for free on Google Books.