"Have a cigar"(cutter) or...put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Posted: Wed Jul 12, 2017 5:58 pm
Seems to me there was a post once that featured cigar cutters but I couldn't locate it(not the best at searching out stuff)so I thought I would start another one.
As an alternative to biting off the end of a stogie some genius decided to invent a tool to do just that without getting a mouthful of tobacco leaf fragments and the cigar cutter was born. They come in all sizes and shapes;from ornate looking scissor like devices to tiny tools that will clip easily to your pocket watch chain. They can be plain utilitarian items cheaply made to solid gold ornately carved tools with a multitude of blades.Some were figural devices depicting various animals or the like.Usually included with cigar cutters are an awl shaped piece to pierce the center of a cigar to make it burn better and a tiny fork shaped tool;presumably to hold the cigar butt when it gets too small to hold with the fingers.
Some tools also encompass pipe tools such as bowl scrapers;a long thin blade to clean the pipe stem,and a tool to tamp down the tobacco in the bowl. These can either be fixed on the end(on cheaper models)or folding ones that fit flush to the side of the knife. This seems to be popular on older English models(I have two examples of this;both by Brookes & Crookes).
Other tools include a device for opening old style wooden cigar boxes that were held with tiny nails. A rounded blade was slid into the gap between the lid and box and pried up slightly.A notch in the tool was then hooked under the nail head and it was removed. To re-seal the box a small hammer head was usually affixed to the tool. Some of these tools had a cigar cutter on the end and some had a cap lifter device;probably for opening an adult beverage or two.
Anyway here are a few examples from my accumulation over the years.
The first picture is of a group of smoker's tools. The two 3 bladed knives are by Dawes & Ball of Sheffield and feature a standard blade;a bowl scraper,and a stem cleaner/cigar punch with the tobacco tamper on the end. The frame is made of one piece of folded steel(nicely done by the way)and polished with a bail to affix it to a watch chain(maybe).The two bladed one on the bottom is a Barlow Japan and still nicely made although not of the quality of the English ones. The small single blade cutter is a Miller Brothers and gold plated with ornate handles. The tiny two blade one is only marked with a patent date(Mar 28 1896).
The second and third pictures are knives by Brookes and Crookes with the first one advertising Royston's of Halifax(maybe a tobacconist?)on the blade. The handles are ivory and the tamper folds out of the handle and sits on the end.
The second one has checkered horn handles and has several more blades including a butt fork(for short cigar butts);a glove or shoe button hook and a nail file in addition to the cigar piercer and the folding tamper. Sadly the master blade is broken and there is a missing tool that slides into the handle;either a toothpick or a small pair of tweezers.
Next is another combination tool by Westby Levick & Co.Not sure if this was a retailer or a maker(probably the former).Tortoise shell handles and thin blade;fork;and piercing tool as well as the cigar cutter.
Next is an unmarked champagne knife that has a built in cigar cutter.
The next three pictures are tools specifically designed to open and close cigar boxes.The circular blade is inserted under the top and pried slightly up until the nail head is exposed. The notch in the blade is then inserted onto the nail under the head and the nail is removed.to re-close the box the nails are hammered down with the hammer head.
Additionally I have included a rather unique pipe I bought only because it looked like a cylinder barrel of a motorcycle! Bowl inserts are machined pieces of corn cob.
Also a couple of unique cigar lighters. One has a folding switchblade and the other is an out the front model.Newly made but kind of unusual which is right up my alley!
Please feel free to post any that you might have.
As an alternative to biting off the end of a stogie some genius decided to invent a tool to do just that without getting a mouthful of tobacco leaf fragments and the cigar cutter was born. They come in all sizes and shapes;from ornate looking scissor like devices to tiny tools that will clip easily to your pocket watch chain. They can be plain utilitarian items cheaply made to solid gold ornately carved tools with a multitude of blades.Some were figural devices depicting various animals or the like.Usually included with cigar cutters are an awl shaped piece to pierce the center of a cigar to make it burn better and a tiny fork shaped tool;presumably to hold the cigar butt when it gets too small to hold with the fingers.
Some tools also encompass pipe tools such as bowl scrapers;a long thin blade to clean the pipe stem,and a tool to tamp down the tobacco in the bowl. These can either be fixed on the end(on cheaper models)or folding ones that fit flush to the side of the knife. This seems to be popular on older English models(I have two examples of this;both by Brookes & Crookes).
Other tools include a device for opening old style wooden cigar boxes that were held with tiny nails. A rounded blade was slid into the gap between the lid and box and pried up slightly.A notch in the tool was then hooked under the nail head and it was removed. To re-seal the box a small hammer head was usually affixed to the tool. Some of these tools had a cigar cutter on the end and some had a cap lifter device;probably for opening an adult beverage or two.
Anyway here are a few examples from my accumulation over the years.
The first picture is of a group of smoker's tools. The two 3 bladed knives are by Dawes & Ball of Sheffield and feature a standard blade;a bowl scraper,and a stem cleaner/cigar punch with the tobacco tamper on the end. The frame is made of one piece of folded steel(nicely done by the way)and polished with a bail to affix it to a watch chain(maybe).The two bladed one on the bottom is a Barlow Japan and still nicely made although not of the quality of the English ones. The small single blade cutter is a Miller Brothers and gold plated with ornate handles. The tiny two blade one is only marked with a patent date(Mar 28 1896).
The second and third pictures are knives by Brookes and Crookes with the first one advertising Royston's of Halifax(maybe a tobacconist?)on the blade. The handles are ivory and the tamper folds out of the handle and sits on the end.
The second one has checkered horn handles and has several more blades including a butt fork(for short cigar butts);a glove or shoe button hook and a nail file in addition to the cigar piercer and the folding tamper. Sadly the master blade is broken and there is a missing tool that slides into the handle;either a toothpick or a small pair of tweezers.
Next is another combination tool by Westby Levick & Co.Not sure if this was a retailer or a maker(probably the former).Tortoise shell handles and thin blade;fork;and piercing tool as well as the cigar cutter.
Next is an unmarked champagne knife that has a built in cigar cutter.
The next three pictures are tools specifically designed to open and close cigar boxes.The circular blade is inserted under the top and pried slightly up until the nail head is exposed. The notch in the blade is then inserted onto the nail under the head and the nail is removed.to re-close the box the nails are hammered down with the hammer head.
Additionally I have included a rather unique pipe I bought only because it looked like a cylinder barrel of a motorcycle! Bowl inserts are machined pieces of corn cob.
Also a couple of unique cigar lighters. One has a folding switchblade and the other is an out the front model.Newly made but kind of unusual which is right up my alley!
Please feel free to post any that you might have.
