 Register to win a free humidor!
Los Angeles, November 23 – It’s a Southern California tradition, perhaps not as well known as the world-famous Rose Parade which it spoofs, but one which is now well respected in its 28th edition.
It’s the Doo Dah Parade in Pasadena, California, annually held 4-5 weeks prior to the New Year’s Day Rose Parade in the same city.
Sunday’s parade in cold, dreary weather drew a crowd estimated at 40,000 to see a record 110 “entrants” ($10 per marcher) and enjoy the scene, which included a popular new entry called “The Stogie Men,” a group of smokers lounging on a giant flatbed truck, accompanied by a giant smoke-emitting mechanical cigar!
The Stogie Men were not as popular, however, as the fan favorite “BBQ Hibachi & Marching Grill Team,” which cooked hot dogs on wheeled, open grills and threw the finished frankfurters to spectators in the crowd . . . or the “Men of Leisure Synchronized Nap Team” . . . or the “Spawn of Captain James T. Kirk.”
The parade got going a few minutes late because one of the vintage (?) Ford Edsels designated to lead the march wouldn’t start.
Parade organizer Tom Coston of the Light Bringer Project – an arts awareness and support group – noted “A lot of people think it is a lot of normal people trying to act weird. But in many cases, it’s a lot of weird people trying to act normal.”
UPS Sues Maine Over Tobacco-Delivery Law:
Delivery giant UPS and other delivery companies filed suit last week over a Maine law that was designed to prevent sales of tobacco products to minors.
Maine’s law is about a year old and requires that people delivering tobacco products obtain proof that the person delivered to is 18 or older. The companies complain that this kind of law could require them to observe 50 different regulations or more, if counties to cities get into the act.
This is another method of attack by government on tobacco in the name of keeping tobacco out of the hands of minors. Under this law, the seller of tobacco must identify the age of the buyer and indicate on the outside of the package that it includes tobacco. The delivery agent must deliver the package only to the buyer, who must show photo identification to prove his or her age.
A lengthy story in the Portland Press-Herald noted that 16 states have enacted laws concerning home delivery of tobacco products, so the delivery industry’s fears are well founded.
Such attacks on commerce in the name of state control of “dangerous substances” are now common on tobacco and have been around for years on wine, in the name of states preserving a commercial advantage for in-state varieties.
The case against Maine’s delivery law was filed in U.S. District Court and Judge D. Brock Hornby will decide the case.
Cigar Sales Slow, But Don’t Stop:
Imports of premium cigars continued to rise in the latest report through September. For the 10th month in a row and 11th in the last 12, imports exceeded their year-over-year figures from 2003 by 3.95%, with 27.6 million units coming into the country.
For the year, imports total 218.42 million against 189.43 million for 2003, a year-to-date increase of 15.3%. Projecting the import total to the end of the year, some 291.23 million premium cigars will arrive in the U.S, the fifth annual increase in a row and the most since the end of the Cigar Boom in 1998, when 334 million came in.
Hammer Time:
No one bid on the two cigar art pieces we profiled last week, the Sterling Silver Tiffany & Co. cigar “server” (opening bid was $9,500) or the elegant cigar holder that opened on each side to reveal up to 18 cigars and included a lion’s head cutter! (opening bid was $499.99).
A box of Fuente Fuente Opus X Super Belicosos was up to $540 for a box of 29 ($18.62 a stick), but the reserve price was higher and the item was withdrawn.
Up this week is a unique humidor in the shape of a champagne bottle! Silver-plated, it dates from the 1890s with bidding ending on Thursday. This kind of cigar container was not unusual in the 19th Century and Ferdinand Fonseca used to package his Havana-made Fonsecas in a bottle-shaped humidor to help customers recall the famed Port of the same name.
There’s also a fabulous British-made, 1910 crocodile-covered cigar and cigarette dispenser box with a drawer for matches and a striking surface. The starting bid for this relic from the end of The Gilded Age under King Edward VII is a reasonable $182 (converted from British pounds). Bidding on this item also ends on Thursday.
How About A Humidor?
We’ve been giving away a lot of cigars in our weekly “Register & Win” contest on our home page, but we promised to raffle off both cigars and accessories, so it’s finally time for our first humidor!
It’s a beauty, a Humidor Supreme Monte Carlo! Illustrated above, it has room for 25 cigars, a Spanish Cedar interior, a humidifier and gauge and a marvelous ultramarine blue finish with four-color inlay.
Your chance to own this elegant box depends on your subscription to our CigarWire service – with all of its exclusive features – or our free “Register & Win” entry form at the top of the screen. We’ll make our drawing on Sunday!
~ Rich Perelman
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
