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Originally Posted by colinb913
Back in the day they were used to keep the oils off of white gloves the upperclassman used to wear.. Or so i have been lead to believe.
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Most likely a myth. Here is some great info:
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...22,755,00.html
On paper bands: Cigar Bands - Hearsay & History
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The origin of cigar bands lies primarily in the realm of business and commerce. By the early 1800s the Caribbean island nation of Cuba was the commonly acknowledged source of the finest cigars in the world. Cigar manufacturers shipped cigars in wooden barrels or small wooden boxes which were inscribed with the name of the manufacturer and place of origin, but without any further adornment on the cigars themselves. Cigar bands made of paper were reportedly first introduced by a Dutchman working in the cigar industry in Havana in the 1830s. In Europe it was apparently not uncommon to find unscrupulous merchants attempting to sell inferior, domestically made cigars as a finer Cuban brand, thus Cuban cigar manufacturers soon began to utilize paper bands as a deterrent to counterfeiting and fraudulent marketing.
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http://pages.ripco.net/~whizstrt/bandinfo.htm