 The original smoke-filled room, Asia rising and more
Los Angeles, September 7 – Now back from the Labor Day holiday, we ran across a great item in a column by the veteran political correspondent R.W. Apple, Jr. of the New York Times.
His backward look at the 20 political conventions he has covered since the 1960s included this historical gem, noting the changes in these “encampments” since they became scripted affairs and no longer chose the party’s candidate for President:
“So what are the other important changes? The makeup of the delegations is an obvious one, if often now overlooked. Delegates of 40 years ago were overwhelmingly male, middle-aged or older, white and long involved in politics, as either pros or semipros. The cigar, usually cheap, often smelly, was the badge of office and produced one of the enduring images of American politics, the smoke-filled room (the original was Suite 404 of the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago, where a group of senators and others agreed in June 1920 that Warren G. Harding should be the Republican nominee.)”
Other sources say the room in question was on the eighth floor and that the phrase “smoke-filled room” was take from an Associated Press dispatch which reported “Harding of Ohio was chosen by a group of men in a smoke-filled room.”
Now you know.
What about the Blackstone? Opened in 1910, it’s still there, across from Grant Park at 636 S. Michigan Avenue. Named for the business tycoon whose house stood where the hotel went up, it’s been designated a Chicago Landmark. However, you won’t be able to book into suite 404 any more as the hotel was closed in 1998 due to numerous code violations. A plan to convert it to luxury condominiums of 4,000 to 7,000 square feet in size with asking prices from $3.4-8.5 million went bust and the building was sold in 2003. Its ultimate use is likely to be condominiums, but far less expensive than originally planned.
Asia smoking:
Korea is the newest nation to discover, at least in a small way, the joy of cigars, according to a new story in the JoongAng Daily, one of Korea’s largest newspapers.
Pierre Cohen-Aknine owns the import rights for Korea for Havana cigars through his Pierre Limited trading company. His company’s office suite in Seoul is now divided into a standard business space and a private glassed cigar lounge and espresso bar. Accessed through a door with no sign, initiation fees are about $416 with annual fees at the same level for the lounge, with members also benefitting from a 20 percent discount on cigars and accessories.
“What was once seen as a sign of flaunted wealth and leisure is now seen as a sign of sophistication,” said Cohen-Aknine. The top-selling brands at the higher end were reported to be Cohiba and Montecristo from Cuba and Davidoff and Dunhill from the Dominican Republic.
In the cigar lounge at the trendy Seoul brasserie A.O.C., fashion photographer Yong-ho Kim notes that “freelance workers and the newly rich on Korean society, who are free from social prejudice, regard cigars as part of a sophisticated culture.”
“It’s not just about having a lot of money and time. Because smoking cigars is normally accompanied by intelligent conversation, cigar smoking has been recognized as a high-class pastime.”
He must not be talking to the same people I do . . .
In China, import quotas and foreign investment regulations prevent wide trade in cigars made outside of the country, but Altadis USA has positioned itself in duty-free shops in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau. Vice President Eric Piras is patiently exploiting opportunities in casinos as they open and in divans in top hotels such as the Conrad and Sheraton in Hong Kong.
With China’s entry into the World Trade Organization, freer trade in tobacco – among many other products – will rise, and Piras is ready. “With better incomes, people start to test Western lifestyles. We’ve seen that already with wine,” he told the Hong Kong Standard. “It’s like food and wine; people try it and some discover an affection for it.”
Montecristo at 70
Although it didn’t make its commercial debut until 1935, some sources point to 1934 as the year of creation for the famed Montecristo brand by the owners of Cuba’s H. Upmann factory, Menendez & Garcia.
By 1936, these cigars were already well known in the United States through distribution at Alfred Dunhill in New York. An advertisement for Montecristo in Fortune magazine declared:
“Montecristo is one of the finest cigars made in Havana. Acclaimed in England and now introduced in the United States exclusively by Alfred Dunhill, they have met with immediate and unprecedented success.”
The ad pictures three Montecristo sizes which are probably more familiar to smokers today than they were then:
• No. 2, the famed 6 1/8 x 52 torpedo: $65 per 100.
• No. 3, the classic 5 1/2 x 42 corona: $55 per 100.
• No. 5, the 4 1/2 x 42 petit corona: $30 per 100.
All available in your choice of boxes of 25 or 50. Is time travel available yet?
~ Rich Perelman
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