Someone asked about proper storage of tubos and how to prepare them for smoking. It got me to wondering-Where did tubos come from in the first place and why? What is their purpose. Who mas the first to use them? Any experts out there??
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I don't know where they come from, but MRN says they showed up in Cuba in the 40's. They were in USA around the 20's.
MRN also says they may have shown up in Cuba 20 years later because in the 20's and 30's the Cubans were in an "anti-machinery" phase. Turns out the workers didn't want anything to do with machines, probably because they were putting them out of work.
There's a little more info about how awesome they are for aging cigars.
In my experience I've found that tubo + the cedar wrapper they use = extensive mold, so I'm not a fan. So if I get a tubo I throw away the cedar.
I know it's defeatist, that's why I steer clear of tubos almost exclusively although I used to think they were super cool. (I still love glass tubos.)
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According to Nee, Fonseca was the first to package a cigar in a tin tube in 1907, but they never spread beyond that until the 40's when aluminum tubes became more common. Their purpose is to provide a cool presentation that makes carrying a cigar more practical, to provide a superior aging environment and to find a way to put mismatching wrapper shades in the same box :-)
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Did you see the tinfoil cigar wrapping machines in the packaging section?
I liked the ad. If you wrap cigars in tinfoil they won't break in your pocket. :-)
I get their point, but it's a bit "stretchy".
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:-)
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This is why I love CA, you never cease to learn new things, at least for me! Oh and I love tubos too!!! :-)
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I haven't, I'll check it out when I get home. Haha, maybe not "stretchy" per se, but it's definitely flexible/bendable. I don't know where that claim came from, but now I can't wait to look at it, lol. Unless back then they used that beefy, thick aluminum foil you can buy some places. Still isn't rigid though :P
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The only one I have in foil is a Boli GM...not very rigid.
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All I know is I love lining up ten or fifteen tubos and staring at them. I'm a weirdo.
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The Cigar Directory in Anwer Bati's 'Celebrating Cigars' (Duncan Petersen, 2004, p. 82) credits H. Upmann with the introduction of tubos. Have no idea whether Bati is correct on this point, but thought it worth a mention. The paragraph runs as follows:

"Amon the brand's claim to fame is that it was responsible for introducing the cedar box in the form which is so familiar today. Before that cgars were sold in bundles or large chests. The word 'brand' itself is thought to come from the fact that the firm's name was actually branded (using a hot iron) on to the boxes. H. Upmann was also responsible for the introduction of the cedar-lined aluminium tube in the 1930s."


Perhaps H. Upmann's contribution was merely the change to aluminium from tin and the addition of cedar...
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Do folks usually remove the cedar from their tubos? Some of the older ones I have do not have cedar in them. I haven't seen any mold either.
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Some do for mold's sake. The cedar lining of the tubes, just like the cedar wrap on some cigars, seems to be conductive to mold for some reason.
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just don't ship anything in a glass tube. had one break on me and destroy a $$ stick. :-)
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