Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-10-01
HIGH-PRICED CIGARS.
The Weeds that Bring Fancy Prices,
and the Men who Buy Them.


\ young man with neatly-brushed hair
and light-bIue necktie stood behind a
cigar stand in a fashionable and we'll
known cafe up town the other day. 1t
was very duh. as tine Wall street men had
not begun to drop i'm on their way home,
and the lOungers had wandered out on
Broadway. In the case were cigars of
every variety. from the ordinary l0-cent
kind 10 wicked and powerful looking
things ten inches long.
The law cOmpelS us to sell the cigars
out of the boxes Just as we buy them, =
said the clerk. feeling for the sprouts of a
budding mOuStache. Formerly we had
set Of beautifully polished rosewood
trays, but we had 10 throw them aside"
Every box bore Il small illuminated
card on which was the retail price of the
cigars. These cards were 10. 10. 20, -,
SO, ~. -. and 80 cents, and two boxes
were marked 81 and 81 30 apiece respec-
lively. There were no cigars missing
from the 45Ecent box. though the 50-cent
one was almost empty. The clerk said
that if a man bought a high-priced cigar
he preferred To pay the extra cents,
and get one for half a dollar rather than
fOTty-iye cents.
AT one time we thought it would add
tone TO the stand,' said the clerk, ''tO
take of all price tags, but we found it
wouldn't work. Customers cannot re-
member the names of cigars and resort
to the figures for identifi cation. Besides,
the ignorance of the prices often led to
awkward situations. \ man would stop
ut the stand ON his way out with some
friends. and say;
Gimme some cigars
'''What kind:'
well, he would look about bindly for
a time, and finally order half Il dozen of
the kind that struck his fancy. If they
happened to be the S0-cent or dollar
variety, he would pay the bill, but he
would never buy Of us again. Some put
the tags back again."
do you sell many cigars at 81
apiecey"
The sale is very uneven. Sometimes
the box will lie for weeks untouched, and
then again there will be a sudden rush on
them. | have smoked a dOllar-and-a-half
cigar" said the clerk with proud smile.
Did You enjoy it?'
Not for cent. 1t was given to me
one night by prominent broker who had
lust made a biz turn on the street and felt
generous. He bought fifty of them, and
handed them to whoever he met. / took
mine home, and after dinner on Sunday !
invited some friends in and smoked it,
Well. | s'pOse I'm not up ia extra fire
cigars, for | didn't get bit of comfort out
o. that one. 1t was so strong that it
parched my throat and left an unpleasant
taste"
Don't you consider 81 and 81 80 apiece
purely fancy prices :"
We'll, | don't know but they are bit
spectacular. \ cigar can be so good and
no better. On the highest-priced whole
sale list the most expensive cigar is the
Para Ia NObleZa, which sells to the trade
for S4I3 a thousand. This is little over
Al cents apiece. They are retailed at
any price above 30 cents. We can't
sell them at %, because, singularly
enough, everybody who buys 5O-cent
cigar expects three for 81.
What men buy very high-priced
cigars:"
Nearly all our customers buy as high
as 30 cents. and we sell hundreds Of
50-cent cigars. The purchasers Of the
very expensive ones are a few men whom
could count of on my fingers. They buy
them because they are so very expensive,
and not because they like the flavor. l
suppose shat il We had cigars at So apiece
there would be purchasers"