Tampa\u2019s most famous cigar factory, El Reloj, turns 111 years old today, March 31.\u00a0 J.C. Newman Cigar Company will celebrate this milestone all day long with free factory tours, special 1910 cigar prices, and by bringing back the first cigar factory lectors to Tampa since they were banned in 1931.
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\u201cWhen El Reloj opened in 1910, the\u00a0Tampa Tribune\u00a0described it as the \u2018largest and finest cigar factory in the world,\u2019\u201d said Drew Newman, a fourth-generation owner of J.C. Newman. \u201cAfter spending two years restoring El Reloj and opening a new cigar museum, we are very excited to share the factory\u2019s 111th birthday with the community.\u201d
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A century ago, Tampa cigar factories had lectors who informed and entertained cigar makers while they rolled cigars.\u00a0 Lectors read a variety of texts, from classical literature to political propaganda, and became influential leaders in Ybor City.\u00a0 After blaming lectors for inciting cigar workers to go on strike, factory owners banned them in 1931.\u00a0 For the first time in 90 years, J.C. Newman is bringing lectors back to Tampa.\u00a0\u00a0
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Beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, honorary lectors including Patrick Mantiega (publisher of La Gaceta and grandson of a lector) and Richard Gonzmart (fourth generation owner of the Columbia restaurants) will be reading to J.C. Newman\u2019s cigar rollers.\u00a0 Members of the public are welcome to watch and listen.\u00a0 J.C. Newman will also offer free guided factory tours all day long.\u00a0 Visitors who make a purchase at J.C. Newman\u2019s factory store will be able to buy a special \u201cEl Reloj\u201d cigar for the 1910 price of 5 cents.\u00a0\u00a0
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\u201cAs the last operating cigar factory in the \u2018Cigar City\u2019 of Tampa, we are proud to continue Tampa\u2019s cigar-making tradition,\u201d said Eric Newman, a third-generation owner of J.C. Newman.\u00a0 \u201cOur family\u2019s goal is to continue handcrafting the finest cigars in El Reloj for another 111 years.\u201d
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El Reloj was built by E. Regensburg and Sons in 1910 and designed for 1,000 cigar rollers.\u00a0 At the time, the\u00a0Tampa Tribune\u00a0wrote that the factory \u201cembodied every convenience, and in fact, every luxury known to modern commercial construction, and the establishment as it now stands finished and occupied, represents the very highest type of factory building.\u201d\u00a0 The factory\u2019s name, which means \u201cclock\u201d in Spanish, is a reference to its iconic clock tower.\u00a0 J.C. Newman purchased El Reloj in 1954 and has continued rolling cigars there since then.\u00a0 After last year\u2019s restoration, El Reloj now includes a three-level cigar museum, interactive theater, hand rolling cigar room, private events space, and factory store.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tampa\u2019s most famous cigar factory, El Reloj, turns 111 years old today, March 31.\u00a0 J.C. Newman Cigar Company will celebrate this milestone all day long with free factory tours, special 1910 cigar prices, and by bringing back the first cigar factory lectors to Tampa since they were banned in 1931.\u00a0\u201cWhen El Reloj opened in 1910,…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":39353,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[177,53,44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cigarjournal.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}