JC Newman Opens El Reloj to the Public
JC Newman opens El Reloj to the public. It took the oldest family-owned American cigar manufacturer two years to finish renovations and expansion. But last week the family had a ceremonial cutting of the ribbon, opening the factory to the public.
The J.C. Newman Cigar Company is now offering tours with a guide. There is a three-level cigar museum, an interactive theatre, a hand-rolling room, and a factory store. A cigar rolling and blending school is opening later this year. Tours cost $15 and the factory is open on weekdays from 9 am till 5:30 pm.
El Reloj
The El Reloj factory is built in 1910 in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida. It was known as The Regensburg factory and one of the largest in the world at the time. El Reloj means the clock and it got the name because of the clock that towers over Ybor City. “A century ago, Tampa had 150 large cigar factories just like this one that rolled more than 500 million cigars by hand each year,” says 4th generation cigar maker Drew Newman.
In 1953 the Newman family acquired the factory. Back then cigars in Tampa were still rolled by hand. But increasing labor costs moved production to the Caribbean. Instead of closing the factory, the Newman family made the decision to manufacture machine-made cigars in El Reloj.
Renovation
Two years ago, a much-needed renovation started. Part of the renovation plans was bringing back the tradition of hand-rolling cigars. The wish to create a cigar museum and tours were also part of the decision to renovate. Tampa, and especially Ybor City, has an enormous cigar history that should be shared. Hand-rolling cigars in El Reloj brought us The American, an all-American cigar from the workers to the tobacco, to the packaging.
“We feel that we have a social and moral responsibility to keep rolling cigars in El Reloj open and keep Tampa’s cigarmaking heritage alive for future generations. We are very excited to use El Reloj as a living history museum to tell the story of Ybor City and Tampa’s historic cigar industry,” Drew Newman continues.
Even though there are still some very small factories producing handmade cigars in Tampa, the industry has almost died. For the Newman family, it is important to preserve the history and the tradition of Tamp cigar making.
