The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1902-10-02
LANGUAGE OF CIGARS
THE TERMS USED IN The TRADE ARE
GREEK TO MOST SMOKERS.


Are Much Mlsused.
Whenever the average untutored TO.
bacco lover wishes TO Indicate TO bis
envious friends that he is In possession
of a cigar Of the first quality, he usual
ly says that he has a perfecto. by
perfecto he means the best cigar OBJ
tainable, and as a rule he applies the
name to all products Of the Havana
factories. But in truth, declares an
intelligent writer in the Kansas City
Journal, q good many cigars that
never saw Havana are genuine per.
fectos, and a good many made in the
most famous factories OF the Cuban
capital are not. The word. as a mat
ter Of fact, does not refer 10 the quality
Of q cigar at all II is simply a term
used to describe the shape. \ perfecto
may cost 81. and IL may cost 2l5 cents.
There are half 4 dozen cigar terms
thus misused by the average smoker,
and there arc several times as many
words OF the same sort whose mean
ing he Is utterly unable to fathom.
What native. co.l fed smoker, for in
. stance. knows the difference between
o panetela and q RC.ua Victoria? And
Phow many know whether there is
real difference between a malUyo and
p. an oscuro? Yet oil Of these terms are
the comnon property Of cigar makers
all over the world. Like many cigar
II brand names. they ere of Spanish ori-
l,.N f.r.. g
9 tobacco and Cuban cigars have taken
n. them into all countries and all Ian
IN guages.
The great majority OF cigars are put
~ mp City in a box, with thirteen on the
IL top row, twelve on the row next to the
~ top, thirteen on the next and twelve
Id on the bottom row. When londres
ne cigar is packed 100 in n box in two
M bundles tied with q ribbon, It becomes
n Reina Victoria, which is Spanish for
Queen Victoria. Early in the late
H0 queens reign a Cuban manufacturer
Oy invented this method Of packing and
of called the resultant bundle after Great
ed Brltains sovereign. The name has re-
ce manned ever since.
The word perfccto is n term indicat-
q, ing certain shape in cigars. A per-
fecto is a smoke having what is gen
~ orally called the ''cigar shape"-that
IL is TO say, 1t is sweled near the end
ep- which is lighted and tapers gradually
down 70 the point, or head. The end
of cigar which a smoker puts in his
mouth is known among cigar makers
as the head. The other end, that
which is lighted. is called the tuck.
When, as often happens in perfecto
the tuck is very small, it is called a
needle tuck or feather tuck. All others
the follow these lines more or less closely.
'er- A thin, straight cigar, with little
art more thickness in the middle than at
the tuck, Is called a panetela. The
,uoI average panetela is slightly longer
. than a perfecto, though the matter OF
size has nothing TO do with the shape.
Ier1 Panetelas are esteemed because they
burn more regularly and are usually
theIbetter because more easily made. The
,rrilNirtue of the perfecto is that its small
On er tuck lights more readily, and its
-. more artistic curves give 1t greater
beauty
Iuei A londres is sort of cross between
lnk1the perfecto and the panetela. 1t is
,red Ia perfecto from the head TO the thick
per- Jest part, and from there on TO the tuck
theit is betwixt and between. Usually
a. the slope from the thickest part 70 the
ank as rrIo 60 &c la,.,.o 30 tho+ % n nano,
tela.
Y BID A partegas is a cigar shaped mieh
fulllike a londres, except that the slope
able from the thickest part to the head is
anl,! usually not so rounded. 1T is a shape
not now as fashionable as ii used to
be, and even when cigars are genuine
'rselpartegas the box is seldom stamped
lber'with the name.
r, A conchas is small blunt cigar. AS
rupta rule it is very satisfactory smoke
and usually 1t lasts as long as per-
ss jfecto. This is because that thin tuck
,hor of the latter burns down rapidly. The
opera is a very small cigar OF any
standard shape. IL derives its name
iat qfrom the fact that 1t is designed foI
thea short smoke between the acts. and
saidvery often 1t is called on entr-acte. The
at sbrevas is large, clumsy cigar, good
ereofor an hours putting. The largest size
- Iof all is the Napoleon. Sometimes Ha
1vana Napoleons are six or seven inches
in length The blacker ones are posi-
otheltively terrifying.
SAID The better grades Of cigars are usu
{ anyally made in several shapes and sizes
d eThere may be. for instance, the Ii
Flor de Habana perfectos, the La Flo
A., de Habana panetelas, the La Flor d'
Habana operas, the La Flor de Ha
MAJ bana partegas and the La Flor de Ha
saiqbana conchas. The label is the sam'
ed ton all of the sizes and shapes, but oil
ce afhe front Of the box the name of tn
shape is stamped.
. On one end OF each box of cigars will
be noted another word. Sometimes !
seHis colorado sometimes Il is cnro AM