| A History
of Tobacco |
| Seeing
the Magic of the Cigar Rollers of La Pintada |
| By Escapeartist Staff |
| It has
never been determined exactly where tobacco first sprouted – most feel
the plant was first cultivated in modern day Mexico or Honduras – but
the myths surrounding the plant have been rich. To the Huron Indians of
North America, tobacco was brought into being when the Great Spirit sent
forth a woman to enrich the land after a great famine. As this woman traveled
the countryside, wherever her right hand touched, there grew potatoes;
wherever her left hand touched, there grew corn. After wondering and enriching
the land with potatoes and corn, she sat down to rest, when she stood up,
there grew tobacco. And the story somehow fits tobacco: relaxation after
tension and weariness.
Anyone who
has traveled to Europe will find it hard to believe that tobacco has
had such a short history there. |
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| People smoke
in Europe more than any other place I have visited. The first European
to smoke tobacco was Rodrigo de Jerez on the island of Cuba in 1498. Initially
the Spaniards did not fine much use for the plant since it did not have
any value on the European market: they were looking for gold and silver.
Only later did the Spaniards develop the crop and export it to Europe.
And that
was only done after the Dutch, English and French discovered how addictive
and pleasurable the tarred spirit of tobacco could be. The English in particular
fell in love with tobacco first calling it Trindado, after the island of
Trinidad. Later they called it Virginia; and finally, tobacco, after the
island of Tobago. It is thought that the first Englishman to introduce
tobacco to Great Britain was Sir Walter Raleigh. (Raleigh who had tried
to settle the Outer Banks of North Carolina by establishing a colony on
Roanoke Island in 1584; Raleigh who had ransacked and captured Trindad
in 1595 and then used the island to launch a hopeless attempt to discover
the Amerindian trick of El Dorado in Venezuela; and Raleigh who was imprisoned
in the Tower of London from 1606 to 1616, then in 1616 released and allowed
to make another attempt to capture El Dorado, losing his son in Trinidad
during the expedition. And Raleigh, who was beheaded in 1618 by James I). |
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| The English
liked to sniff their tobacco in the form of snuff, which they have until
the present enjoyed as a stimulant. The English became so addicted to tobacco
that one English official declared that the tobacco trade might in time
be worth more than all Spanish silver and gold in the New World. In fact,
the English desire was so great that the Spanish literally burned the plant
from Trinidad in order to keep English pirates from smuggling it off the
island to Europe.
In the Caribbean
tobacco by the 16th and 17th century was a cash crop for the English:
it was used as a currency. In the American colonies such as Delaware, farmers
traded for English goods with tobacoo. You could say from Europe’s first
contact with tobacco until well into the 20th century the desire and therefore
the trade in tobacco only increased.
The growing
of tobacco is an art and anyone involved in the growing of high-quality
tobacco will tell you that tobacco is not farmed but rather gardened. |
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Offshore
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| Inside each
tobacco plant there are over 300,000 seeds which could end up as potential
plants. The seeds are taken and planted in seedbeds. The seeds have to
be handled with care, for if they are not, flavor will be lost. Flavor
also depends on the type of soil and climate that the seeds are exposed
to. Like wine, tobacco quality depends on the soil and climate it is grown
in. Tobacco likes a sandy soil very low in clay.
The best
soil and climate for tobacco lies along the Rio Cuyaguateje in western
Cuba. In Cuba, before planting tobacco the soil must be cut into deep
furrows, always on flat land, then the seeds are planted and covered with
a fine cloth; this is done to prevent excessive heat and light. After five
to eight days the seed germinates and slowly the cloth is removed over
intervals. After thirty-five days the tobacco plant is six inches high
and then is transplanted to a new seedbed normally in October. Thirty days
after this the plant’s bud is taken out to avoid flowering and to maintain
aroma. Thirty-days after this, the leaves of the plant are cut from the
bottom up since the bottom leaves ripen before the higher-quality top leaves.
The tobacco is then hung in bundles to ferment. And finally they are packed
in succession of boxes. It is all sixes: six weeks to germinate, six weeks
to grow the plant, six weeks to harvest, six weeks to dry and cure, and
six weeks to ferment. |
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| Tobacco
in Panama
Having lived
in Panama for a number of years, most of which were spent in the countryside,
I had heard only rumors about the cigar rollers of La Pintada.
La Pintada
is a small-town located in the central province of Cocle. The town
is about 20 minutes from the capital of Cocle, Penonome. We left Panama
City in the early morning rain and reached Penonome at about 11:00am. The
road from Penonome to La Pintada begins right next to where the police
station is located on the main square of Penonome.
Penonome
is set up like most Spanish cities in Latin America: the Spanish used
a standard urban plan known as a traza. In the center of Penonome
is a rectangular park around which are located a church, government offices
and a police station. |
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Offshore
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| Off the central
park are eight pararell streets which divide the town into grids. The name
Penonome comes from an ancient indian ritual known as the Feast of the
Penitents, in which the mountain indians above Penonome would flagellate
themselves until they bleed profusely.
This ritual
stopped at the beginning of the 20th century. Penonome became famous
in the last century because it produced Panama's most famous 20th century
president: Arnulfo Arias, the deceased husband of the current president
Mireya Moscoso. Penonome today is a wealthy small town that provides modern
banking services to the rich agricultural community that surrounds it.
It is also known as one of best towns to go wild in during Carnival.
From Penonome,
the road to La Pintada is very well maintained and the drive is beautiful
as you pass agricultural fields from which farmers take their crops by
horseback to the main market in Penonome. We also saw a number of small
farms for sale along the road and after talking with some of the locals
from La Pintada we found out that a number of foreigners had moved into
the area and were setting up small farming operations.
The lay of
land as you head towards La Pintada is initially flat but as you get closer
to the town the hills above the town come into clearer focus, and from
La Pintada forward are mountains and mud tracks that can only be traversed
with a 4X4 vehicle.
We arrived
in La Pintada and stopped at a small shop that was painted bright red and
asked where the cigar rolling factory was located – we learned later
that there had been three such factories in the recent past, but two had
closed down as the owners moved into other businesses. The road leading
to the cigar factory was part grass, part stone and the factory itself
was located on a steep slope and surrounded by teak and acacia trees. There
were few houses near the factory and the atmosphere was very quiet and
very rural. As we pulled up we saw a young couple walking in and
out of the factory very quickly, as though they were excited and sick at
the same time.
As we approached
the door that led into the room where people were rolling cigars at small
wooden tables, the sweet-scent of tobacco filled my nose and lungs.
The atmosphere inside was one of complete silence and tranquility as only
three cigar rollers worked cutting and wrapping the tobacco. The lights
were turned off but light from outside illuminated the factory, creating
a shady tranquil feeling inside. The walls were painted white and the floor
green. And immediately I began to feel as if something was in the air;
it was as if a hum of energy was running through my body from some unknown
source: it was the kick of tobacco. Some of the people I had traveled with
had to step outside the factory because the smell and strength of the tobacco
made them feel light-headed and sick to their stomachs. The female
rollers worked with deep concentration and for at least 5 minutes we said
nothing to one another. The young couple I had seen when pulling up to
the factory darted in and out from several doors that led into the room
where the rollers worked.
Finally
Sergio, the only male roller in the room began to speak to me about
the factory and his love of cigar rolling. He told me that the tobacco
came from Chiriqui Province, the Panamanian province that lies on the Costa
Rican-Panamanian border; he did not know from where in Chiriqui.
He had been working at the factory for over 5 years and loved the process
of rolling tobacco. He liked the feeling of handling the tobacco and then
smoking what he had handled. He showed me some of the cigars that were
for sale; they were lying on an old wooden table that one might have found
in a grade school from the first half of the 20th century. Twenty-five
cigars for $10.00 and they were delicious. They tasted as good as any Cuban
or Nicaraguan cigar I've tried: milder and less-expensive. All the time
we talked the young couple kept walking in and out very excited and nervous.
Sergio and
I stepped outside and we walked to the small warehouse where the tobacco
was kept. As we walked, farmers passed by on horseback on the road below.
The tobacco was kept in dark rooms to keep it fresh. Sergio offered me
a cigar and we smoked and enjoyed the atmosphere of slow rain and a light
breeze. All the while the young couple was walking by filled with their
nervous energy. |
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