Cigars industry VS Women - Part 2.
The Role of Women in the Cigar Industry Through the Ages (Until the 20th Century)
The Role of Women in the Cigar Industry in the 20th Century
With roots in colonial and global trade, the cigar industry has always presented a male-dominated identity in production and consumption but the role of women during the 20th century is important and special and has brought about significant changes in this industry.
From factory and small-scale manufacturing workers to long-established merchants and family members and to iconic icons in advertising their contributions and influential actions have helped to sustain and shape the industry.
Their participation brought about drastic changes in the roles of the genders, labor rights and the improvement and change of social norms within this century.
Below we will examine the role of women in the cigar industry during the 20th century, highlighting their importance in work, marketing, cultural representation and emerging leadership.
III. 20th Century: Marginalization and Resurgence
The 20th century had many setbacks but also new resurgences with new opportunities in the cigar industry.
The appearance of machines in the production process, the rise of cigarettes and their explosive consumption along with the change in labor laws helped shaping the industry and the position and role of women in it.
Women in the Early 20th Century Cigar Industry
Women in the early 20th century were actively involved in the cigar industry in primarily labor-based roles. With a great degree of difficulty this was based on and required specific skills in hand-rolling the cigars but also in sorting and packaging.
Employment in many cigar factories in Cuba and the United States (notably in Tampa and Key West, Florida) and in various parts of Europe was by women where their wages were low and their roles were usually in the last low steps of the production process.
As despalilladoras – leaf strippers – to remove the veins from the tobacco leaves and torcedoras – to roll the cigars by hand – a role of great importance in the production of cigars that required a maximum degree of skill and dexterity.
Sorting, packing and quality control was an additional role that required manual dexterity and attention to detail.
Men, on the other hand, dominated the high ranks and best-paid positions of cigar rollers for top brands.
In Cuba, women were essential to the volume of cigar export maintaining the consistency of the products, ensuring with their work that the quality characteristics were at a high level and met the expectations of foreign markets.
In the United States women's work in the cigar industries became inextricably linked with Immigration.
Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrant women were employed in the cigar factories, specifically in Ybor City, Tampa.
Their wages were at a low level but they provided economic stability to immigrant families by helping women provide a stable income to their households while creating groups and enclaves of the same nationality, thus maintaining traditional and indigenous principles and characteristics among themselves.
Despite their presence and support with their work, they were marginalized. They were paid less than men, often experienced conditions of exploitation and pressure and did not easily meet opportunities for development and rise in the hierarchy of the cigar business.
But their contribution through their work was very important and necessary to maintain the production process and their contribution was critical because they laid the foundation for the success of the industry during this period.
Mid-20th Century: Decline of Factories and New Gender Roles
The middle of the 20th century saw great changes in the cigar industry, where it found itself at the crossroad of tradition and innovation.
For many years the cigar was a product of specialized manual work.
Producing a cigar required skill, speed and experience and many production regions—including Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Florida—built reputations on the craftsmanship of their workers.
Factories became cultural centers where workers listened to a lecturer reading aloud newspapers, literature or political pamphlets while rolling cigars, achieving intellectual learning, the exchange of views and ideas and solidarity among workers.
Industrialized cigarette production increased the pressure and brought radical changes to the cigar industry.
The growing popularity of cigarettes from the beginning of the 20th century, with their full industrialization saw the mechanization and industrialization of the cigar production process.
The machines promised more immediate results, lower costs and the ability to compete with mass-produced cigarettes. This whole process disrupted traditional labor practices, challenged cultural identities within cigar-making communities and reshaped the global trade in tobacco products.
Cigarettes, easier to manufacture and cheaper as a product relative to cigars, became increasingly dominant in world markets.
Cigar producers, particularly in the United States and Europe, realized that without mechanization they risked losing their competitiveness.This transitional period of declining handmade cigar production had an impact on the traditional employment opportunities for women.
Also, the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and the subsequent US embargo significantly affected the cigar trade forcing the production process to shift to new areas such as the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Honduras.
Women's labor force participation declined in some regions, but increased in others.
In the Dominican Republic women became an indispensable part of the growing cigar industry in tasks such as sorting and rolling tobacco.
In these regions there were patterns of low payment and limited advancement to high positions, but women continued to form the basic structure of the production process.
In the US women began to appear in marketing and advertising. In the middle of the 20th century the philosophy of cigars was deeply influenced by Hollywood projecting symbols and models of male dominance and power, success and leisure.
However, women were even more prominent in advertisements, not as consumers but as glamorous props, thus increasing the allure of cigars for men.
They often appeared in cigar advertisements as symbols of sophisticated sensuality, reinforcing cigars' cultural association with male dominance.
Such depictions marginalized women as consumers, framing them as passive ornaments rather than active participants.
Despite this, even in this indirect way, these depictions helped the role of the woman by putting her at the center, reinforcing the stereotypes of the genders and setting her as the main image for the cigar culture.
They functioned as the faces of a new aspiration for a new way of life, a philosophy promoted by the cigar industry.
Late 20th Century: Women Entering Leadership and Entrepreneurship
At the end of the 20th century the cigar industry changed radically through globalization and rising luxury (branding), and especially through the dramatic rise in cigar consumption especially in the 1990s.
This rise, particularly in the United States, created new players in the market who would take on leadership and business roles, many of whom were women.
An important figure of that period – very influential in the industry – who challenged traditional card hierarchies and proved that women could also excel in historically male-dominated roles was Maria Sierra.
Maria Sierra was one of the first women to train in the cigar roll (torcedora) at the famous Fabrica de Tabacos El Laguito in Havana, a factory known for producing Cohiba cigars for Fidel Castro and dignitaries.
She began her career in 1967 at the age of 18 and was the choice of Celia Sánchez - a courageous and impressive leader behind the Cuban Revolution who worked closely with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Frank Pais and took the initiative to preserve Cuba's history and establish its cultural identity by promoting Cuban tourism and starting businesses, such as the Cohiba cigar factory – from a group of 20 people who made up the original female cigar-rolling workforce.
Her entry into cigar rolling was a then revolutionary push to include women in the cigar manufacturing industry.
She was trained by masters of cigar rolling such as Eduardo Rivera and Avelino Lara, reaching the point of becoming a master of this art mastering a high level of skill - class nine - which enabled her to roll any cigar in the Habanos S.A. portfolio.
During her 31 years working at El Laguito her reputation grew from producing some of the most delicate and expensive cigars along with the Laguito No. 2, which has the same characteristics as the famous Cohiba Corona Especiales.
Her dexterity and abilities gained admiration, earning her extra perks – unusual for factory workers at the time – such as tickets to the Tropicana and paid holidays.
She was working in a very strict environment where there was strict quality control with great weight and seriousness in the art of cigar rolling.
In 1998 she retired and in 2009 moved to Miami where she started working at the El Titan de Bronze factory.
There she presented the La Palina Goldie Series for many years and with her craftsmanship in Goldie Laguito cigars – with a particular reputation and finesse in its unique caps (a technique she developed from her experience in Cuba) – gained well-deserved additional fame and recognition from cigar lovers around the world.
She stopped working in 2017 and died in 2019 at the age of 70.
Celia Sánchez's contribution to the creation of Cohiba is emblematic of its larger vision - a fusion of revolutionary zeal, respect for cultural roots and a belief in the empowerment and promotion of women.
Through El Laguito she transformed a colonial villa into a symbol of Cuban prestige and female leadership, leaving a legacy that still resonates in the world of premium cigars to this day.
In addition to being craftsmen women began to assume roles in execution and business.
Breaking into Leadership Roles
The leading entry of women into the cigar industry offered broader changes to the dynamics of the two genders
Although the challenges were often difficult and persistent the late 20th century saw an increasing acceptance of women in executive positions.
In cigar companies, through family businesses, women often started to come forward and become leaders – many cigar dynasties in Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and the USA were for many years patriarchal – but events and crises such as exile, succession or market upheavals disrupted traditional leadership paths and sometimes women took control.
Some of them initially assumed the role of curators of family legacies with the sole purpose of establishing themselves as visionary leaders.
Women as Entrepreneurs
In addition to the succession in families in the late 20th century women created their own companies and their own brands of cigars.
The logic and philosophy in these beginnings came from the passion for traditional artisanal production but also from challenging the stereotypes that made the culture of cigars only a male affair.
This entrepreneurship allowed for a new and more direct path to redefine their position in the cigar industry.
Female entrepreneurs stood out with new practices and ideas in marketing and branding.
Seeing the growing and now different diversity in cigar consumers they realized that these are not only addressed to connoisseurs of cigars who are considered elite, but also to a younger audience, generally to professionals but also to women themselves.
With a central focus always on quality and emphasizing tradition, in combination with the new
lifestyle, helped redefining cigar consumption in the late 20th century.
Marketing, Branding, and the Female Perspective
The boom in cigar consumption in the late 20th century was largely due to marketing.
Characteristics of cigars that became symbols of luxury, leisure and success were challenged by women entrepreneurs in that only men could assimilate them.
They quickly saw the growing and now diverse diversity in cigar consumers that was untapped and introduced new branding strategies that made cigars more appealing.
Some brand names under their leadership have strongly emphasized female ownership as a valuable part of their identity, bringing progress to an industry that has long had entrenched barriers to the opposite Sex.
Other brand names subtly redesigned their brand narratives, bringing to the fore and emphasizing family tradition and heritage, productive craftsmanship, the new cosmopolitan sophistication of the consumer rather than the existing traditional masculine image.
The Gendered Challenges of Leadership
Despite their many achievements women who led the cigar industry in the late 20th century faced many challenges as well as significant obstacles.
Gender stereotypes persisted and many questioned whether women could and did have or not the knowledge or authority to succeed in a field historically dominated by men.
Legitimacy was a trait they struggled to gain among, distributors, consumers and even workers schooled in male leadership.
The industry was also inextricably linked to spaces and social events - salons, clubs and trade shows - that were based on masculine standards.
To navigate these spaces women leaders had to balance power with diplomacy, often having to face direct exclusion practices.
Their business acumen combined with their tenacious resilience was often the basis of their success, in the face of this whole climate of cultural resistance.
The Influence of Women Consumers
At the end of the 20th century there was a gradual increase in female cigar consumers.
Although it has long been associated with male enjoyment, a large number of women have taken to cigar smoking, conjuring it as a symbol of empowerment, sophistication and individuality.
Women leaders recognized this change and tried to create spaces and events where women consumers felt comfortable, welcome and there were no restrictions.
By creating inclusive spaces – with strategic marketing, cigar clubs that focused on women, or designing products aimed at them – they bridged the gap between production and consumption.
In this way they were able to grow and expand the cultural relevance of the industry and set new rules and characteristics that changed the future course of cigars.
Globalization and Women’s Roles
In the late 20th century the globalization that came to the production process of the cigar industry completely changed the leadership opportunities presented to women.
With multinational companies creating and investing in new production process areas, women found employment not only in factories but also in leadership and quality control positions.
In countries such as Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic they rose to new levels that enabled them to gain experiences and expertise that led them to leadership.
In the US and Europe, they developed and managed retail and distribution in the cigar industry.
They became tobacco shop owners, marketing executives or brand name owners succeeding in becoming part of a rapidly growing global network, contributing to the connectivity and diversity of the industry.
Cultural Shifts and Representation
Women became increasingly visible leaders in the cigar industry and the cultural image of women in the industry slowly began to change.
While advertisements and popular media of the time continued to portray cigar smoking as a masculine habit, the appearance, presence and image of female leaders did damage and dispelled these stereotypes.
Magazines and trade shows slowly began to highlight the contribution of women entrepreneurs and accept their role in the renaissance of the industry.
At the same time, women leaders themselves often drew media attention to challenge traditional narratives by casting them as outdated.
Their constant presence in interviews, public appearances and participation in trade shows helped them assert their authority and reshape perceptions of women and cigars.
Long-Term Implications
The late 20th century was just the beginning of women's continued leadership in the cigar industry, laying strong foundations with their pioneering and fundamental contributions.
They succeeded in creating strong pathways for future generations, highlighting that women had the opportunity to actively participate and develop not only as executives but also as strong entrepreneurs, reshaping the potential of the industry.
Their course brought about fore wider discussions about cards and businesses. The cigar industry, an industry governed by strong ties of tradition and masculinity, offered a stark and unique setting for measuring women's progress and development.
Women proved through entrepreneurship that they could and had the skills to challenge existing and entrenched norms, leading the way for greater equality and new directions in other luxury and heritage industries.
Conclusion
The late 20th century was a changing time for women in the cigar industry, highlighting a shift from confined factory roles to positions of leadership and entrepreneurship.
In a general context of geopolitical upheaval, market changes and cultural events, women seized opportunities not only to lead but to innovate, prototype and redefine the industry.
Their presence not only developed the possibilities of women in the world of cigars but also radically changed and improved the way of production process, distribution and consumption of cigars.
Although difficulties were many, women leaders and entrepreneurs displayed and applied resilience, vision and creativity.
Although long excluded they showed stories and events that illuminated and inspired the two genders and the relationships between them, the trade and tradition of the branch and profoundly changed their role.
They were no longer just supporting figures in the cigar industry but were recognized as leaders and entrepreneurs, innovators and visionaries charting a new course for the future of the industry.
To be continued (Part 3.)
Important Notice
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Edited by Marios Krokos
Industrial designer