Historic Ybor City Cigar Factories: The Regensburg Cigar Factory

The Regensburg Cigar Factory (Copyright 2010 Tom Ufer All Rights Reserved)

Cigar Brands: The American, Admiration, Happy 

The Regensburg cigar factory was built in February, 1910 for Edward Regensburg. The factory had seats for 1,000 cigar rollers. Its most famous feature is the four sided clock that has been nicknamed “El Reloj”

The clock became a landmark and an important part of Ybor City life. People kept their time by it. Men and Women used it to wake in the morning for work and in the evening to go home. Children used it to get ready for school.

In 1928, E. Regensburg & Sons, headquartered in New York, introduce HAPPY brand nickel cigars

The Regensburg factory produced many popular cigar brands and employed many people. During the Great Depression, machines began to replace the cigar rollers and smoking also became an unaffordable luxury for many.

In 1951, the factory closed its doors when Regensburg moved his operation to Allentown, Pa. Regensburg cited growing shipping costs to the Northeast as one of the main reasons for the move. I’ve also read that the cigar unions in Ybor City played a major part in this decision. The move also put their factory closer to the New York City headquarters. When they closed, E. Regensburg had employed 280 people.

Regensburg Factory Trivia:

In 1950, Edward J.Regensburg was president of the Cigar Manufacturers Association of America.

Lou Pinella’s Grandfather, a Spanish immigrant, began working for Cuesta-Rey cigars as a tobacco buyer in the 1920s when the company was owned by E. Regensburg & Sons.

Piniella's two uncles worked as J.C. Newman accountants for over twenty years.

The Newman Years

Cigar Brands: Rigoletto, Don Jose, Alcazar, Cuesta Rey, La Unica, Diamond Crown, El Baton, Brick House

In 1953, Julius Caesar Newman was in Tampa visiting friends when he saw the abandoned factory. He called his son, Stanford Newman and told Stanford to get on the next plane to Tampa to look at the factory because J.C Newman wanted to buy it.

In July of 1953, Standard Cigar Co. of Tampa, a subsidiary of M&N Cigar Manufacturers of Cleveland started operations with Stanford Newman at the helm. They had rented a single floor of the factory and brought machines from their Cleveland factory as part of a one year experiment.

In January of 1954, M&N Cigar Manufacturers decided to close its Cleveland, OH operation and move all its operations Tampa.

Stanford Newman did not realize the importance of the factory’s clock and had it silenced after receiving a complaint about the clock bell’s noise. Many other people wanted the bell back but the clock’s bell was never reconnected.

Over the years, the clock’s mechanism became a victim of time and the elements and ceased to function. In fact, three of the four clock faces had broken.
 

Then in 2002, Eric Newman, Stanford’s oldest son, now president of J.C. Newman Cigar Co., built a small museum with photos and the remaining original clock face. The rusted inner clock mechanisms were restored and installed in the first floor museum and reattached to the 1,500-pound bell in the tower.

The clock now functions and chimes for Ybor City once more.

Today, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company machine manufacturers the Rigoletto brand here in Tampa. In the Dominican Republic, the Newman family partner with the Fuente family. The Fuentes hand roll the J.C. Newman brands of Cuesta-Rey, Diamond Crown, La Unica, and Rigoletto Handmades. In Honduras and Nicaragua, the Newman’s have partners for the Honduran brand Don Jose and the Nicaraguan brands Alcazar, El Baton and Brick House.

The Newman’s are also the exclusive distributor for the famous Arturo Fuente, Montesino, and Fuente Fuente OpusX cigar brands in the United States.

The J.C. Newman Cigar Company operates the last remaining production cigar factory in Ybor City.