Metro Cigar News Winter 1998: Historic Ybor City

Historic Ybor City
A Cigar Historian's Delight

by Charles Jacobs

TAMPA FLORIDA - Its days as the mecca of cigar manufacture may be long past, but Ybor City is still smoking hot. A visit there is a special treat for cigar aficionados.

Night time is party time in this National Historic Landmark District. Hordes of revelers - tourist and local, ivy and funk, dark and light, old and young-pack the streets. They meld in an orgy of laughter and fun. But that's to be expected, for ethnic harmony has always been part of Ybor's magic. In its heyday, Italian, Spanish, Jewish and Cuban immigrants toiled side by side in the district's huge cigar factories and lived together in harmony in sprawling clusters of company houses.

In yesteryear, the strains of Puccini drifted from L'Unione Italians, the Italian social club, to blend with the flamenco of El Centro Español. Today, the cacophonous chords of jazz, calypso and rock resonate from the many open air night clubs that line La Setima (Seventh Avenue) as they vie for the attention of strollers who pack the sidewalks and spill into the street. On key comers and in the tiny plazas along the street, solo musicians, small ensembles and an occasional juggler - complete the scene, generally ignored by the chattering passersby, too busy to watch or listen. Ubiquitous neon casts a shimmering glow above the crowd, its eerie grey light Reflected in the store fronts on La Setima's five key blocks.

Nights in Ybor City are reserved for fun. Dancing, drinking, eating and browsing the quirky shops that make the district so special. But the real Ybor experience requires a daytime visit to understand the important role tobacco has played in the American economy. The area's remaining cigar shops are open day and evening.

A tour of the state-operated museum is an ideal starting point. It includes an inside peek at La Casita located next door. La Casita is a restoration of one of the original 100 worker homes built in the late 1800's to house the first Hispanic and Italian families that migrated to Tampa to staff its burgeoning cigar factories.

Free walking tours of the Landmark district begin at Ybor Square, the former site of the V.M. Ybor Cigar factory that has been converted into a multi level arcade of shops and eateries.

But you can easily tour Ybor City on your own. You need no guidebook. The changing scents that greet you on every block of La Setima tell the story of the waves of immigrant tabaqueros who brought their unique ethnic diversity to Tampa as they sat at long wooden tables and hand rolled as many as 500 million choice cigars a year.

The aroma of rich Cuban coffee and the sweet bouquet of Cuban bread engulf you as you pass Tropicana, famous for its traditional Cuban sandwiches. Piercing fumes of garlic from the many trattorias reveal the region's Sicilian heritage. The eclectic bouquet of sharp spices drifts from the doorways of Spanish eateries. The rich fragrance of dried tobacco leaves still perfumes the air near the district's two remaining cigar factories.

On each floor of the rambling factories, lectors used to read aloud to the workers to keep them informed and entertained. In the mornings, the subjects were current political issues. As a result, Ybor City became a hotbed of political unrest during the period of the Cuban Revolution. Its residents were a major force in generating the fervor that led to the Spanish American War.

Afternoon readings normally offered novels and short stories. All presentations were in pure Castillian Spanish, a language quickly learned by most tabaqueros and their families regardless of their country of origin.

The boom years began in 1886 when Don Vicente Martinez Ybor moved his flourishing cigar factory from Key West to what was then an underdeveloped alligator and mosquito-infested, wooded frontier close to Tampa Bay.

Don Ybor's dream was to find an undeveloped site where he could create a company town, free of the labor unions that had made Key West untenable. He chose this area, isolated from the mainstream of Tampa by a mile of wilderness, on the advice of several friends who had explored it in search of guava groves. His timing was ideal. The Tampa Board of Trade was searching for potential developers. It assisted Ybor with a grant of $4,000, nearly half the price of the 40 acre tract he planned to develop.

Attracted by the promise of steady work at reasonable wages, waves of Sicilian migrants from Santo Stefano in the old country and from construction sites near Tampa joined the hundreds of Cuban tabaqueros who deserted the cigar centers of Key West and Havana where the harsh working conditions fomented a great deal of labor unrest. Jewish immigrants rounded out the work force, while entrepreneurs from Spain became the business moguls of the district, opening restaurants and operating factories.

Each ethnic group formed its own social club, which became the focal point of its communal life - interaction between the clubs was warm and friendly, but membership in each individual club remained exclusive to those of the same heritage. Members paid the hefty sum of 25 cents a week as dues. In return, they enjoyed picnics, dances, entertainment and even complete health care.

The Cubans, Ybor's dominant population, were also its most mobile. They frequently moved between Ybor City, Key West and Havana, three locations where the majority of the world's cigars were produced. In its heyday, Ybor contributed 500 million cigars annually as its share.

Because they were so distant from their native land, the Sicilians put down roots and became a much more stable group. They took great pride in their homes, planted vegetable gardens and grazed cows and goats behind their houses. As the community developed, more and more wives began to work in the factories. The men opened small groceries and produce shops.

The Spanish represented the wealthiest segment of Ybor society. Many were factory owners. Others became restaurateurs. The area's most outstanding eatery, 90-year-old Columbia, still offers flamenco entertainment. Its arched brick facade is a kaleidoscope of ceramic tile scenes, many relating the story of Don Quixote.

The Ybor City State Museum is housed in the once-flourishing Ferlita Bakery, now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Well executed graphic and text displays recount the early history of Ybor City, as well as its later demise when the combined forces of mechanization, the growing popularity of cigarettes and the Great Depression shut down most of the factories. A video, available for viewing at the museum, describes the review process used to qualify the area for its coveted landmark designation.

American history was made in Ybor City and is detailed in a series of wall exhibits at the Museum.. Many historians consider the district's militant Cuban population a prime catalyst in the American decision to launch the Spanish American War in 1898. A contingent of 30,000 U.S. troops, including Colonel Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, were stationed here when the war broke out in 1898. Ybor residents long remembered the days when Colonel Roosevelt would race through the district on his horse, followed by his dog "Cuba."

A relaxing and tasty respite from the long walks through the district is a visit to the Ybor City Brewing Company. Located several blocks from La Setima, the microbrewery produces only 10,000 barrels of its exclusive golden brew each year. It is distributed exclusively in the Tampa Bay area. Tours are available from 11 AM to 3 PM Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $2 per person, half of which is donated to local historical and cultural programs.

Although many of the 30 working artist studios have moved to Tampa's Seminole Heights, several interesting ones have remained, however. Brad Cooper, himself a skilled artist, displays works of highly talented, but very unique, painters and sculptors from all over the country, Tile shops, hand-blown and stained glassworks, ballet studios, hand-crafted jewelry boutiques all complement the few remaining galleries. And be certain to visit La Setima's gargoyle shop... an incredible array of sculptures of gargoyles and other grotesque, mystical creatures.

Dining and drinking choices range from the traditional - the Irish Pub, SPURS Country Western Bar and Jimmy Mack's burgers - to the frenetic live bands at Harpo's and Cafe Creole and the raunchy dance beat at Bubba's Beach Club, where Thursday night is Ladies Checkout, when it is forbidden to wear panties. Trattorias, Cuban and Spanish eateries dot the street.

For those visitors who prefer to see the sights in relaxed comfort, the Tampa-Ybor Trolley offers a nostalgic ride through the district with stops at the Columbia Restaurant, the museum, Ybor Square and the Cafe Creole. For the tiny 50-cent fare (25 cents for seniors and the disabled; free for kiddies 4 years and under), the trolley will also take you to view downtown Tampa, the new Convention Center, Harbour Island and the Garrison Seaport area that is home to the Florida Aquarium. The trolleys run continuously all day from 9 AM to 5:30 in the afternoon.