Early cigar makers wore visors to shade their eyes. A knife was used to cut the tobacco to the correct size and shape it like a football. Binders were filled with "filler tobacco" and the wrapper covering the rest of the tobacco. Paste was used to keep the cigar together. A hot needle was stuck in the cigar head in order for the smoker to draw smoke through the cigar ( without the hole the head of the cigar needed to be removed).

MAKING A CIGAR AT H.E. SNYDER CIGAR CO.

Tobacco is raised from a very small seed. When tobacco is harvested it is cured in one of three ways: the flue, sun, or air curing. Careful management of the tobacco was important, particularly so that worms would not infest the tobacco. After the tobacco was shipped to the manufacturer, production began.

Tobacco arrived in heavy white pine boxes; Water was poured into the boxes to make the tobacco more pliable and also sweat the gum from the tobacco. After 24 hours the water was poured out.		Tobacco leaves were sorted by size and placed in small bundles.
The tobacco leaf was then put through a stripping machine which removed the stem from the leaf		The tobacco was rolled using leaves from a variety of locations. Tobacco used for filler was from Puerto Rico. Tobacco used for binders was from Havana, Cuba. Tobacco wrapping came from Florida, Connecticut, and the island of Sumatra.
Finished cigars were put into molds and pressed overnight.		Cigars were sorted according to color.
Ends of the cigars were trimmed using a cutter (similar to a paper cutter).		Cigar machines on the manufacturing floor.
Cigars being made by machine.		Horace E. Snyder inspects a bundle of cigars.
Cigars were placed in wooden boxes or metal cans.		The product was delivered to retailers.

Some of the artifacts still remain from the H.E. Snyder Cigar Co. In addition to the collectible cigar boxes and cans, equipment used to produce the cigars is prized by local collectors.

This is a cigar mold used to shape the cigars.		This is where the workers hand rolled the cigars and then they cut off the end of it.