Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial History

Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial History

The Journal of The James Madison Institute
BOOK REVIEW
Tampa Cigar Workers:
A Pictorial History
By Robert P. Ingalls and Louis a Pérez, Jr.
©2003 University Press of Florida, 233 pages
Reviewed by Aaron Ruster-Mack
Editor’s Note: A version of this review originally appeared on Florida Verve,
The James Madison Institute’s website devoted to Florida’s arts and culture.
T
ampa Cigar Workers:
A Pictorial History
portrays the personal
lives of Florida’s cigar
factory workers in the
late 19th century and
into the 20th century.
The team of Robert P.
Ingalls and Louis A.
Pérez did extraordinary
work in hunting down
old journals and articles
from this era. They
even located some of the surviving
cigar workers, who gave unparalleled
insights into this subculture.
The authors placed a lot of focus
on Vicente Martinez Ybor, as they
should have, for Ybor almost singlehandedly brought the Cuban cigar
industry to Tampa, where he was
to become the namesake for Ybor
City, the Tampa neighborhood that
[74]
became synonymous
with the cigar industry.
The book begins
with a broad history of
the cigar industry in
Florida, focusing on the
Tampa area. Quotes
and pictures from
various sources follow
the introduction and
make up the bulk of
the book. These quotes
and pictures provide a
window allowing the reader to see
life as it played out in these cigarfueled boomtowns.
Almost all Floridians, especially if
they’ve explored Key West or Ybor
City, know of the cigar industry and
its importance to the state’s economy
a century or more ago. But not many
Floridians realize the impact that
the large influx of foreign workers
Spring 2015
The Journal of The James Madison Institute
had on what, at the time, remained a
sparsely populated state. In the U.S.
Census of 1890, for instance, Florida’s population was only 391,422.
Because of its proximity to Cuba
and its similar climate, Key West was
the first Florida city to receive Cuban
immigrants. In the half century from
1840 to 1890 it went from a sleepy
town with a population of less than
700 to a brief reign as Florida’s most
populous (and wealthiest) city, with
more than 18,000 residents. This small
island city’s growth in that era was
primarily due to the cigar industry.
Vicente Martinez Ybor soon saw
the problem inherent in such rapid
growth on a small and remote island.
So in 1885 he relocated, settling on a
40-acre tract of land next to Tampa,
which was then a small town. Tampa’s
location had two major advantages:
Henry Plant’s new railroad and
steamship lines connected the city to
America’s populous northeast, and
the tobacco fields of western Cuba
were not far away. These factors made
Tampa an easy choice.
Vicente Ybor set off creating a
city out of swampland. He built
houses and businesses to cater to the
workers, and he enticed other manufacturers to come by offering them
cheap land and facilities. Ybor’s
plan worked, and Ybor City quickly
mushroomed into a boomtown of the
late 19th century, growing faster than
Key West. Ybor City was quickly
annexed by the city of Tampa and
labeled as the city’s “Latin quarter.”
By 1900, it along with cigar-making
rival West Tampa, became known as
the “Cigar Capital of the World.”
Spring 2015
This book primarily focuses on
life in Ybor City, with sections on
“Making Cigars,” “Early Strikes,”
and “Workers at Play.” This is where
real story lies, with the people who
propelled this industry and the
culture they brought. Authors Ingalls
and Pérez note that the cigar workers
at this time were quite urbane, dressing up every day and going to social
clubs, yet they still remained very
involved in the violent revolution
happening in their homeland, just
across the Straits of Florida.
The cigar workers’ community was
vital to their existence; indeed, many
of them lived active lives outside of
their factory shifts. Every afternoon
the workers would change clothes
and go out to dine with friends or
go to one of the many social clubs.
According to Ingalls and Pérez, “The
clubs became centers of immigrant
life with a variety of activities.”
There was a social club for nearly
every ethnicity, and some clubs
catered to immigrants from particular Cuban cities or regions. Most of
these social clubs had lavish facilities, with theaters, dining areas, and
classrooms. In fact, some even had
members-only hospitals. The workers
could afford to lead this type of life
because cigar making was one of the
best-paid trades at that time.
Baseball was the game of choice
for the mostly Cuban population;
different factories would field teams
and play in very competitive leagues
before large crowds. The people who
worked in the factories rolling cigars
didn’t let their work define them;
they were active in the community
[75]
The Journal of The James Madison Institute
and helped shape Florida to what it
is today.
The book includes a lot of material about labor strife in the cigar
industry. Strikes became common as
militant labor groups organized the
workers. These unions espoused the
socialist and anarchist principles that
many of Tampa’s Cuban immigrants
believed at this time, having left
Cuba in the midst of a revolution.
In the plants, lectors read to the
workers as they labored away at
their respective trades. In addition
to reading the news of the day, some
lectors passed along political propaganda. Revolutionaries, including
Jose Martí occasionally visited the
factories and were always welcomed
by throngs of spectators. The authors
point out that “[f]ew responded to
Martí’s appeal with more enthusiasm
than the cigar workers in Florida.”
During Cuba’s fight for independence from Spanish rule, the cigar
making communities of Florida
were among the largest contributors
to the rebels in the fight for a Cuba
libre, and some were even militarily
trained in Tampa and sent over as
reinforcements.
Tampa Cigar Workers: A Pictorial
History excels in its exploration of
a bygone era. Today, only one of
Tampa’s cigar factories remains,
and its future survival is uncertain. With the cigar trade mostly
gone, Ybor City today is largely an
entertainment district, with trendy
restaurants, nightclubs, and bars.
Even so, the cigar workers of Tampa
had an impact on history — in Cuba
and in Tampa. That impact lingers,
like the rich aroma of a fine cigar. e
Reviewer Aaron Ruster-Mack is a
Florida State University sophomore
majoring in economics with a minor in
Spanish, and is an intern with The James
Madison Institute.
THE OTHER FLORIDA from page 74
become my new home, Tallahassee.
Her perspective contrasts deeply with
images of tropical resorts, vacation
homes, and retirement communities and reminds me of the Florida I
knew from my childhood. Just as any
Texan is truly proud to be a Texan,
I once again find myself becoming
fiercely protective of this “other” Florida I have come to know and love.
While anyone can vacation on its
tropical beaches and explore its big
cities, it is a very lucky few that get to
truly experience Jahoda’s Florida.
[76]
The other Florida’s pines will survive
too, I think. Often among them I
remember the person I was before I
came to them and what I thought was
important then, and the landscapes
I have since known, and the history I
have since learned, and the friends I
have since made. Wherever the fates
may take me in the years to come, I
shall not be the same again. e
Kristen Hill is the Development Associate for The James Madison Institute and
a graduate of Florida State University.
Spring 2015