The Charm of Wooden Cigar Boxes

I love cigar boxes. My infatuation began when I saw the old cardboard Roi-Tan boxes my grandfather had. There was always one partially full of cigars, but others lay around full of stuff. I could just imagine the stuff I could put in my own cigar box if I were ever lucky enough to have one of my own. Time went by, as it does, and I never did have my own cigar box.

Pseudo cardboard cigar boxes are now made with designs made for kids for pencil carriers and general storage. These are made like the old cardboard cigar boxes but with kid friendly designs. They are nice I suppose, but don’t hold the same charm. Without the smell of old cigars they are just not the same.

Recently I came across a website selling wooden cigar boxes. I must admit I hadn’t thought about cigar boxes in some time, but I immediately found these intriguing. Ten assorted cigar boxes for $20 plus shipping. Now I didn’t know what I would use one cigar box for let alone ten, but how could I pass up a deal like that. A variety pack. I ordered them and waited. Ships immediately said the website. Two weeks later I checked – order still in process. I emailed them. They responded without telling me anything, but a few days later a shipping notice came. A month after my order I got my cigar boxes.

Big boxes, little boxes, red boxes, blue boxes. A Hemmingway, Acid, Nicks Sticks. All wood, all sturdy and attractive. I lifted the covers and breathed in the smell of cigars. Wonderful.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a smoker. I haven’t smoked a cigar in 20 years and never smoked many, but they hold a charm for me. The smell of my grandfather’s cigar still lingers in my memory though he is long gone. The tobacco smell in the cigar boxes is definitely part of the charm these wooden boxes have over me.

Now, what do I do with them? My wife questions why I bought them. The shoe hoarder questions me, I thought. I don’t dignify her question with a specific answer. “I have plans for them,” I tell her. I take them to my basement workshop and admire them. One particularly sturdy box with dovetail corners, interesting paint, and a dog on the cover makes it on top of my dresser as a coin box. As I am moving some computer speakers out of the way on my workbench with their tangle of wires an idea comes to me. Before you know it I have stripped the speakers and amplifier out of the computer speaker cases and with a little drilling, soldering, cutting, and screwing I have created a beautiful cigar box Mp3 speaker. Two wires run out of the cigar box; one for power and one audio plug. I plug it into the wall and into my iphone and I have great sound.

That leaves eight boxes. Stay tuned. I have more ideas. In the meantime picture me in my basement lifting the lids, smelling the traces of old tobacco, dreaming.