Nat Sherman
Encyclopedia
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s." The company, which began as a retail tobacconist
Tobacconist
A tobacconist is an expert dealer in tobacco in various forms and the related accoutrements .Such accoutrements include pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, pipe tampers, ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones...
, continues to operate a flagship retail shop now located on 42nd Street, off of Fifth Avenue, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Corporate offices are now located at the foot of the George Washington Bridge
George Washington Bridge
The George Washington Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Hudson River, connecting the Washington Heights neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City to Fort Lee, Bergen County, New Jersey. Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1/9 cross the river via the bridge. U.S...
in the borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Fort Lee
Fort Lee, New Jersey
Fort Lee is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 35,345. Located atop the Hudson Palisades, the borough is the western terminus of the George Washington Bridge...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Origins
Nat Sherman, the brand, began with Nat Sherman, the man. Sherman made his fortune running a prominent speakeasySpeakeasy
A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...
in New York City during the 1920s, a time when Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
made such a business extremely lucrative, albeit risky. Perhaps as the result of settlement of a gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
debt, his son later speculated, Sherman wound up as half owner of Traub Brothers and Bear, makers of the Epoca cigar brand, which introduced the nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
proprietor into the world of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
manufacturing. Sherman subsequently bought out his partner to become sole owner of the Epoca brand, which was made in Havana, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Tampa
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Later a prominent New York real estate developer named Abe Gubertz had cash-flow difficulties during the construction of of a 38 story building located on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. Sherman provided the struggling developer with a loan, taking retail space located in the lobby as partial payment. The shop sold cigarettes and cigars in substantial quantities to those who worked in the building and proved a means of distributing its own cigars, including Epoca and Nat Sherman-branded product. The company also was the exclusive importer and distributor of the Cuban-made Bolivar
Bolivar (cigar brand)
Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium cigar, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for General Cigar Company, which is today a subsidiary of Swedish Match...
brand in the United States.
In the 1950s, an adjoining retail space was obtained on the street, which initially was used as a candy store. The wall between the two establishments was later broken down, paving the way for an expansion of the tobacco shop, which catered to an elite customer base, which included leaders in the fashion industry, theatre, and politicians. Prominent members of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
"families" also frequented the shop, which was regarded as "neutral ground."
Joel Sherman, the son of Nat Sherman and company president and CEO into the 21st Century, later recalled of the shop's most dangerous customers:
"These people drank the best liquor, drove the most expensive cars, had the most beautiful women, and they smoked the best cigars. You'd find people from opposing crime families meeting in the store. They'd buy each other cigars while their bodyguards stood outside."
Product expansion
In 1950, Sherman introduced the plastic-tipped cigar to the industry, called "Sherman's #25." The cigar was produced in Tampa for Sherman by Carl Cuesta, an American manufacturer of cigars for PartagasPartagas (cigar brand)
Partagás is among the oldest extant brands of cigars, established in Havana in 1845. The name is used today by two independent and competing entities, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for the...
. The company applied for a patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
for its cigar tip, which was never granted. Nevertheless, for 32 years the company successfully bluffed away rivals by marking its packaging with the words "patent pending" and by threatening legal action.
Sherman was also a pioneer in the manufacture of cigarettes which made use of cigar tobacco, launching a product called "Havana Ovals #149" early in the 1950s. According to company lore, the move to specialty small cigars and cigarettes was made at the request of an irate customer who had been unable to smoke a cigar on an airplane and who had specifically requested a cigarette which tasted like a cigar.
During the 1960s, the Sherman shop expanded its wares to include pipes. Over 1,000 pipes were offered for sale in a 40 feet (12.2 m) long case hung along the wall of the store. The company also began to sell pipe tobacco under the "Nat Sherman" brand name. At the time of its expansion, the company's pipe department was perhaps the largest in New York City and the United States.
In the 1960s, a move was made to expand both the wholesale operations of the company and its cigarette manufacturing arm. The company's previous manufacturing facility in Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, was shuttered and a move made to a new and larger facility in Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood, New Jersey
Englewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
.
Business changes
In the Fall of 1976, founder and patriarch Nat Sherman decided to open a shop on New York's tony Fifth Avenue as a means of bolstering his tobacco brand's status even more, and a new location was opened at 711 Fifth Avenue, near the illustrious Plaza HotelPlaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
and across the street from Tiffany & Company. After a period of serious differences with his father, son Joel Sherman left the business for about a decade, returning to the company in 1990, the year after his father's death. Joel Sherman assumed the role of company president and CEO, terminated many of the existing management staff, and once again set the company on the course of developing unique, elite, high-end products.
The company lost its lease at 711 Fifth Avenue and moved to a new 7000 square feet (650.3 m²) location located on 42nd Street, around the corner from the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
. A total of $1.5 million were spent on the development of the new store, which boasts an inventory of about 500,000 cigars and a second floor walk-in humidor
Humidor
A humidor is any kind of box or room with constant humidity, and ideal temperature, used to store cigars, cigarettes, or pipe tobacco. For private use, small wooden or acrylic glass humidor boxes for a few dozen cigars are used, while cigar shops may have walk-in humidors, sometimes consisting of a...
and smoking room adorned with leather-backed chairs.
Sherman's "Metropolitan" cigar line has been manufactured since the 1990s by MATASA
MATASA
Manufactura de Tabacos S.A., known by the acronym MATASA, is a family-owned factory based in the Dominican Republic that specializes in the manufacture of premium cigars. It is best known brand is the Fonseca line of cigars. Its current president and owner is Manuel "Manolo" Quesada, Jr.-Quesada...
in the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. Its Gotham 1400 and Omerta products are manufactured and distributed by Santa Clara, Inc.. The company's cigarette manufacturing is conducted in its own facility in Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
.
Sherman advertised during New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
radio broadcasts. Every major play during the game, Giants commentator Bob Papa
Bob Papa
Bob Papa is an American sportscaster. Papa is employed by NFL Network, HBO, and the New York Giants.-Biography:Papa grew up in Dumont, New Jersey and graduated from Bergen Catholic High School in nearby Oradell...
exclaimed "Get that man a Nat Sherman cigar!".
Cigarettes
- Classic - king size 85mm, white wrapping, tan filter, robust
- Classic Blue - king size 85mm, white wrapping, tan filter
- Classic Menthol - king size 85mm, white wrapping, tan filter, natural menthol in the cigarette filter
- New York Cut Original - king size 85mm, white wrapping, tan filter, robust, lower price point than the Classic make
- New York Cut Blue - king size 85mm, white wrapping, white filter, lower price point than the Classic blue make
- New York Cut Menthol - king size 85mm, white wrapping, tan filter, natural menthol in the cigarette filter, lower price point than the Classic make
- Fantasia lights - colored paper wrappings with gold leaf charcoal filter
- Black and Gold - blackFashion brands (cigarettes)Historically considered a masculine habit, the feminization of smoking occurred in tandem with the advent of fashion brands or premium brands of cigarettes specifically marketed toward women who see the use of these brands as a way to increase or enhance their sexual appeal...
with gold leafGold leafright|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
charcoal filter - Hint of Menthol (formerly A Hint of Mint) - mint flavor in filter
- MCD - available in a light version
- Naturals - available in mint and light versions; also available in king size
- A Touch of Clove - clove flavor in filter (discontinued)
Small cigars
- Havana Ovals - queen size 101mm, brown maduro paper, no filter, robust
- Cigaretellos
Further reading
- Nat Sherman's a Passion for Cigars: Selecting, Preserving, Smoking, and Savoring One of Life's Greatest Pleasures.
External links
- Nat Sherman official website
- "An Interview with Joel Sherman of Nat Sherman," Pipes Magazine.com/ November 25, 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
- Video Interview with Michael Holba in the Nat Sherman Store