1940: HENRY CLAY & BOCK CUBAN CIGARS

Here's a digitized 8 x 10 photo of the employees of that legendary Cuban cigar factory that was once the pride of South Trenton. Ms. Nadine Brunini gave me this photo some time ago, and I am just now getting around to past donations from local history devotees. Perhaps a visitor will recognize one or more of the gentlemen in the photo. Based on the neckties being worn by the men, I would suggest that this may have been taken in the wide tie 1950's era.

"OMAD," A regular and original visitor to this website, has sent the following added information on the Henry Clay & Bock cigar factory. The men in the photo really took a back seat to the ladies who did all the critical manufacturing process, turning out some of the finest cigars in the world. I smoked a couple of those Trenton-made cigars many years ago. Thanks for your comment Omad, who wrote:

Omad said...

Goodness, so many things that hit on my family history. My aunt Elsa, along with her 4 other Berta Hungarian sisters from Virginia Ave, worked there and she went for her high school diploma evenings. Her sister was chosen to work on the "special" cigars for important people. Very high quality. Elsa left the factory for GM, met my uncle and married him when he came home from WW2. She is 90 now and the healthiest person I know. She often talks about the factory. I see that now is has been restored and made into condos. Quite impressive still. She makes the best stuffed cabbage and says she rolls the cabbage the way she rolled the leaves of the cigar.