Old Familiar Memories - Photo 178

Cigar Bands

A cigar band is a loop made of paper or foil fitted around the body of a cigar to denote its brand or variety. Although origins of the device are the subject of several legends, modern historians credit a European immigrant to Cuba named Gustave Bock with invention of the cigar band in the 1830s. Within two decades, banding of cigars exported from Havana became almost universal. Their use remains very much a part of modern cigar production, with a recent trend towards larger and more elaborate designs in evidence.

Vintage and modern cigar bands are collected today, with collectors joined into an organization called the International Label, Seal and Cigar Band Society. The largest collection of bands was accumulated by American collector Joe Hruby, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for a collection of over 165,000 distinct varieties of bands - although that number had ballooned to over 221,000 varieties by 1999.