As the oldest family owned cigar company in America, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company has been manufacturing and distributing quality, premium cigars and cigar accessories for over 104 years. This established track record of quality and innovation has made the Newman Family leaders in the American Cigar Industry since 1895.


At the young age of 14, Hannah Newman's son Julius Caesar Newman (J.C.), began an apprenticeship in the cigar making trade in Cleveland Ohio. In 1890, Hannah, was a recent immigrant the United States and paid $3.00 per month so that J.C. could learn the cigar trade. After completing his apprenticeship, Newman worked as a journeyman cigar maker for the next 3 years until a severe recession resulted in massive layoffs throughout the country. As an unemployed, immigrant cigar maker, J.C. decided to follow the "American Dream" and start his own company.


Though his dreams of success were great, the company's beginnings were quite simple. In 1895 Julius (J.C.) created a cigar table from some old boards, borrowed $50 for tobacco and got his first order for 500 cigars from the family grocer. The business that started that day in the barn behind the family home was the J.C. Newman Cigar Company.


After only 5 years of existence, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company employed 75 cigar makers. Back in 1900, this was a considerable accomplishment for a 25 year old immigrant turned entrepreneur. J.C. married Gladys Pollasky in 1909 and together they had 2 daughters and sons. And the J.C. Newman Cigar Company kept growing. By 1916 the company rapidly expanded with the addition of 2 factories in Marion and Lorain, Ohio. J.C. now employed a total of 700 employees.


However, the cigar business was difficult during The Great Depression. In 1927, there were only 2 cigar manufacturers left in Cleveland - the J.C. Newman Cigar Company and the Mendehlson Cigar Company. J.C. merged his business with Grover Mendehlson and the new company became known as M & N Cigar Manufacturers, Inc. However, by purchasing all of Mendehlson's shares of stock, J.C. became the sole owner of the company once again in 1938.


After World War II, J.C.'s sons, Stanford and Millard Newman, returned from military service and joined the company. Stanford became in charge of the manufacturing operations and Millard oversaw sales operations. The company continued to flourish in Cleveland. However, J.C. decided to relocate the company to Tampa, Florida in 1954. Known as the "Cigar City," Tampa was ideal for cigar manufacturing because of its warm, humid climate and its close location to Cuba. At that time, the ships transporting Cuban tobacco traveled from Havana to the Port of Tampa.


In order to expand it's business, M & N Cigar Manufacturers purchased the famous Cuesta Rey brand from Angel and Carl Cuesta in 1958. Unfortunately, 1958 was also the year that J.C. Newman died.


Continuing the family tradition, Standford's sons Eric and Bobby Newman entered the family business in the mid 1970's. As 3rd generation Newmans in the cigar industry, Eric learned the manufacturing side of the company while Robert focused on the Sales end of the business. This next generation worked along side other family members in continuing to develop the J.C. Newman Cigar Company.


During the 1970's, the Newmans achieved great success with the Cuesta-Rey #95 cigar. It became the largest selling premium cigar in the United States. As advertised in The Wall Street Journal, Time, Newsweek, Forbes, the New York Times Magazine, and other periodicals, Newman's Cuesta-Rey cigar brand became nationally known.


In 1986, the Stanford Newman family acquired the entire interest in the company from Stanford's brother and two sisters. Later in that year, the Newmans became associated with the Carlos Fuente family who were manufacturing handmade cigars in the Dominican Republic.


1986 is also the same year the Newman's introduced the La Unica first brand of Premium Cigars offered in bundles. Created by Carlos Fuente, La Unica made premium cigars affordable to more cigar lovers since the Newmans did away with the expensive boxes and other packaging material for this brand. To date, La Unica remains America's Largest Selling Premium Cigar offered in bundles.


Under the leadership of Stanford, Eric, and Bobby, the Newmans continued the family tradition of cigar making excellence. In celebration of the Family's 100th anniversary in the cigar business, the Newmans changed the company name back to its original name of J.C. Newman Cigar Co. from M&N Cigar Manufacturers.


Currently, the J.C. Newman Cigar Company still manufacturers close to 80,000 medium-priced cigars in their Ybor City factory, located in Tampa, under the Rigoletto brand name. In the Dominican Republic, the Newmans are partnered with the Carlos Fuente family who manufacturers J.C. Newman's Premium handmade cigars under the brands of Cuesta-Rey, Diamond Crown, La Unica, and Rigoletto Handmades. In addition, the Newman's partners in Honduras and Nicaragua handmake the Honduran Don Jose and the Nicaraguan Alcazar bundle brands. At the same time, the Newmans are partners with the Fuentes in Fuente & Newman Premium Cigars Limited. This company is the exclusive distributor for the famous Arturo Fuente, Montesino and Fuente Fuente OpusX cigar brands in the United States. This association has proven to be the most successful combined cigar operation in the entire cigar industry


Looking toward the next Millenium, the Newman family is poised to continue to lead the cigar industry in the future. This is evident through the CigarFamily.com Web site which is the leading cigar manufacturer's Web site. Through developing partnerships with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Newman family has opened the Cuesta-Rey Cigar Bar at Tropicana Field, which is the only cigar bar in Major League Baseball. With the continued leadership of the Newman family, the future generations of Newmans will lead the J.C. Newman Cigar Company for another 100 years. . .


Any questions regarding the Newman Family's history may be directed to Drew Newman, J.C. Newman's Great Grandson or Liv Vesely, Director of Public Relations for the J.C. Newman Cigar Company.