Cigars used to be a huge part of daily life here, especially around the cities.
They were used largely in advertising and politicking.
In days before tv, if someone wanted your attention to try to sell you something, they'd have a few boxes of cigars and lay down their pitch while you were smoking the cigar they just gave you. Life was at a much slower pace and folks hung out on the street a lot. Anyone running for any kind of office wouldn't think of going out stumping without a large supply of smokes. They had dress boxes made up with their name and campaign slogans and singles were given out widely.
A large part of the cigars were perfecto candelas.
There are all sorts of cigar art sites and tons of reading available on the internet about this stuff. It's fun reading.
