M. Masuret & Co. “Blue Circle Brand”
Credit LineGift of William C. Hayman, London, Ontario, 2018.
Object number2018.019.008
Label TextThe cigar making industry had quite a presence in the history of London, as it was once the nation’s second-largest cigar-producing city. London’s cigar-making industry took off after Prime Minister John A. Macdonald introduced the National Policy in 1879. This placed duties on manufactured products, like German cigars, but not on unprocessed materials like Cuban and American tobacco. Homegrown business could produce good quality, affordable products, including cigars. Between the years 1880 and 1920, cigar manufacturing in London was at its height. During this time the process of making cigars transitioned from a handcraft to factory operation. In 1910, at the industry’s peak, London boasted more than 20 cigar-making firms. Their 2000 employees produced more than 80 million cigars a year. Prohibition introduced in 1916, the turn to cigarettes that began with the First World War (1914-1918), and rising taxes spelled the end of the city’s cigar-making industry.
NameBox, Cigar
GORMAN ECKERT AND COMPANY, LIMITED
1883-1920
