Manufactures de Tabacos S.A. Havanitos Box-Jose Benito Cigars

Genuine and original wooden cigar "pocket box" to hold 10 Jose Benito Havanitos (small cigars/cigarillos).
Jose Benito cigars are one of many cigar brands that are made by the Manufactures de Tabacos S.A. or globally known as MATASA.
MATASA is a fifth-generation tobacco rolling corporation operated by the Gonzales-Quesada family in the Dominican Republic.
Like many other cigar factories, the Gonzales-Quesada family originates from Spain, but by the 1800's immigrated to Cuba to enter the Havana tobacco trade. They sold tobacco all over the world from Cuba and even acquired and resold some Dominican tobacco on the island of Hispaniola. During the 1930's and even throughout the Cuban Revolution of the 1950's, the then mostly Quesada familia was the world's largest tobacco brokers and leaf rollers.
Once Fidel Castro assumed power in Cuba in 1959, four men in a "machine gun equipped jeep" went into the family's factory and sealed their safe and claimed it under government domain. The Quesada's were forced to educate Castro's regime how to operate their business and then told to never come back to the factory because it "now belongs to Cuba". The remaining members of the family then fled to Miami in August of 1960. Desperate to continue the trade, the head of the family (Manuel Quesada, Sr.) decided to attempt a non-collateral loan from their bank in which they have used since 1907...Royal Bank of Canada.
In 1961, Manuel flew from Miami to New York to ask RBC for a loan. The bank gave Manuel and his family $200,000 US to start a new tobacco operation from ground up.
Since the family still had a "foothold" on the island of Hispaniola, they used the loan to start up in the Dominican Republic. Using the 200K loan, Manuel began to grade, select, and warehouse, sort and finally sell Dominican and other tobaccos to the same worldwide clients who bought their Cuban tobacco leaf from their Havana-based operation before Castro's takeover of Cuba.
In 1972, the Quesada family along with another exiled family in Miami (Sosa) formed a cigar rolling production Sociedad Anonima (like Inc.) in Santiago using their Dominican leaves. They named the merger Manufactures de Tobacos S.A. or MATASA.
MATASA went on to make some of the finest cigar brands in the world: Fonseca, Romeo and Julieta, Licenciados, Sosa, Casa Blanca, and of course Jose Benito.
Jose Benito was a family brand named after Manuel Quesada's fourth cousin Jose Benito who they referred to as "Uncle Jose". They created a leaf in his honor in which Jose actually had to approve by trial and error. Why the honor? Uncle Jose was known to smoke 14 cigars a day.
This pocket box weighs 4.1 ounces (empty) and is well crafted wood with brass latch and hinge.
Has some wood "checking" but is solid in structure and boasts a beautiful Spanish Cedar grain pattern.
Stands 6" tall and 3.25" wide with a thickness of 1.5"

MemoryLaneVintiques sanitizes all glassware, glazed pottery, jewelry and resin cast items before packing for shipment....100% Guaranteed!
This item has been polished with lemon scented wood oil.

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