Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-03
The Making Of Ten
Million Cigar Boxes.


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IN the Unitel states how many smok-
ers rntw anv,hng about where. how
and OF what materials cigar boxes are
u,odoo
Perhaps not one in % thousand. per-
hsus nor orc IN ..nn thoueand. vet IT
Is not so mporta.lt thnt they sho,ila
know. IL Ia only nteregflne ana may
possibly bc as int,rcstur la the gem
ornl readc, ne No tbS nrnfrs.4onn,
smoker.
Tine e.ea,. rr!alc ~ ma Tfr,t,t
states cons,ner 1.,out Se ODD o0o ,yoftb
o, cigar noxes so,ir penusvlvnnia
leads the country n The ANIMAL out-
nut of ciea, box making. the latest
.rVailablo sta sstic. shnVtnq 81 55gO 05
worth I'm a sinnlc wear
New York s.Ite tnmee next with an
annual cutput OF S 531 2t7 worth
The Pacine COAST Iaiso ,nnn,ifacturos
cigar boxes san Francisco aiso has
two factories. Las Angeles ono ma
Portland or, oise. ono OF The san
Francisco cigar box factories Is run by
a Chlnanau,
The finest ch,ar boxes are made of
cedar, some % this ci,dar is nntiVp
while the very higes4 priced bnxes
are mndc OF Spanish cedar obtained
from the WESTERN coast oil Mexico and
the Central American republics on the
west. and the Gulf OF Mexico coast on
the east
But Spanish cedar Is becoming very
scarce and high priced In tho carly
history of cigar BOX making I'm san
Francisco ii could be bought here az
SIS per Thousand feet, now II cost y95
per thousand feet
Today California redwood ~ used in
the manufacture OF cigar boxes on the
coast IA the larger cigar box factory
of san Francisco, % per cent OF the
boxes are made Of redwood.
Then there, is the veneer stuff and
the imitation wood. The first named
consists of a popular or bass wood base
veneered with cedar; the second con
sists of poplar and bass wood stained
TO look like cedar.
or course the veneered stuff Is cheap
err than pure cedar, and the imitation
wood is cheaper than the yeneered ma
terial
Solid cedar boxes to hold 100 cigars
costs about II cents each half boxes
cost s cents. Veneer costs cent less
per box and the imitation cedar box
costs from 5Js to cents, The staining
Of the poplar and bass wood Is done by
n printing press through which the
slabs are run
The bottom and top Of n cigar box
of standard size are made Of slabs five
while the pieces which compose the
sides and ends are seven tnirty-seconds
OF an inch thick.
The veneer is cat i'm the width re-
quired for the boxes, but In lengths of
several feet The base is cut In like
sizes and the veneer is put on by sim
ply applying 1t to the base with glue
and proper amount of pressure.
The veneered slabs are then taken
to a saving table and sawed into the
proper sizes for the making of the
boxes. They are then run through a
shaping machine and those pieces
which are to be stamped are run
through II printing press.
Then they are ready for mailing. The
ends and sides are first nailed and then
the tops and bottoms are nailed on by
another machine.
The mailing machines are fed with
nails by automatic action, Just the
right number of nails being forthcom-
ing at a stroke to nail one corner of a
box One stroke does the business for
each of the four corners and one stroke
each for top and bottom.
The top is held only at one edge and
sometimes by single name for the
cloth hinge is vet To be nut on. This
is on the front; the hinge goes on the
back.
The hinge is made of strip of cheese
cloth glued on the edge of the box
and afterward it is covered over with
a strip of paper trimming.
When the Cline with which the hinge
has been fastened, is dry. the box is
ready for the labels and other orna-
mental filings.
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