Show me your Cajon!

[99call]

Just picked up this Cabanas y Carbajal Cuban Compendium.  Will post better images once it's with me.  Really happy to find this, as I've wanted one of these hinged arm boxes for a long time, and so much history wrapped up in the Cabanas brand.  

[Luca]

What a great find @99call! Congratulations. It looks beautiful! A very special piece!

[99call]

2 minutes ago, Luca said:

What a great find @99call! Congratulations. It looks beautiful! A very special piece!

Cheers dude, may need a little TLC, but yep, pretty happy with the find

[canadianbeaver]

Wow I had no idea this is what you guys were talking about from the title of this thread. Fantastic!

CB

[99call]

2 minutes ago, canadianbeaver said:

Wow I had no idea this is what you guys were talking about from the title of this thread. Fantastic!

CB

Haha were you afraid you were going to have to jet flame your eyeballs out, if the content was X-rated?

[canadianbeaver]

20 hours ago, 99call said:

Haha were you afraid you were going to have to jet flame your eyeballs out, if the content was X-rated?

Are you kidding? Just thought I would bring a cocktail ?

CB

[99call]

Just now, canadianbeaver said:

Are you kidding? Just thought I would bring a cocktail ?

CB

Haha, I always get confused if your account is being operated by Mr or Mrs Beaver!

[cfc1016]

@99call do you have more info on the history? I assume this was some sort of employee bonus? That's the only interpretation I can come up with for 'aguinaldo' and there's no documented vitola by that name, AFAIK.

Who were they a bonus for, I wonder? When were they produced? The people demand ANSWERS, damnit!

[99call]

3 minutes ago, cfc1016 said:

@99call do you have more info on the history? I assume this was some sort of employee bonus? That's the only interpretation I can come up with for 'aguinaldo' and there's no documented vitola by that name, AFAIK.

Who were they a bonus for, I wonder? When were they produced? The people demand ANSWERS, damnit!

I wouldn't get too frustrated.   I would say 70% of the names I have seen on old Cahons, are not cigar marca names or sizes anyone would either recognise today.  The best way to think about it is like whats happening today i.e.  Diplomatico 'Ammunition'.   

Also there is a chance, that the names come from whomever commissioned the run.  If the same freedoms existed today with Habana as existed back then. you could commission a run of 50 Cajons under a niche brand, and call the cigars whatever you like. 

The main important point of value with the Aguinaldo box is the unique shape (i.e I've never seen anything like this, and wouldn't be surprised if it's either one of a kind, or the only existing example surviving).

Initially i thought (before I had it in my hands) that the bronze knob and top plate were non original, and the finial legs were non original, but they accuracy of the timber used is seamless, also if wanting to make finial decorative legs, cedar is not the most pleasant wood to work with nor gives the best result (another factor that makes me believe they are original). i.e. the fact that they are indeed cedar. 

Haha, if you want to put in the research, I offer you my full support, but again. As the currently EL RE programme appears to be some mindless, pulling names out of a hat exercise, so was it in the past.     

[99call]

24 minutes ago, cfc1016 said:

bonus

As well as 'bonus' google translate, also features "aguinaldos" as "Christmas box".  

[99call]

1 hour ago, cfc1016 said:

The people demand ANSWERS, damnit!

Assuming the cigar peeps over the collar, it would make whatever cigar that sat inside 13.5cm long exactly

The internal dimensions are confusing as assuming the Aguinaldos sign is front facing it's 12cm wide and 11.5 deep.  this means if it was a slightly longer petit coronas i.e 7x7 (which fits nicely, you get only 49 cigars?.   Maybe I'm terrible at maths (strike "maybe").....anyone else got any bright ideas?. The petit coronas are a little loose, maybe its just the RGPC I used, or maybe they were 43/44 rg?

[Jack]

@99call - I would suspect you are correct on all counts, regarding the Aguinaldos.  There seems to be very little material we can reference regarding earlier vitolas and boxes.  As you say there are many variations of boxes and cigars and both names and sizes we've never seen are long gone.  Some information can be found in old industry magazines (Habano) and advertisements, but for the most part we just have to be amazed by the products that were produced.  By luck I happened upon a photograph of another Aguinaldos box on this website (in the scrolling photo at the top.)

https://www.houseofgrauer.com/en/art-and-culture/

Your Cabanas y Carbajal box is fascinating and quite rare. The mechanism is not unseen, but the way it is applied is unique, to me at least.

I find all of these older boxes to be fascinating in both their function and attention to detail.  Great finds!

[99call]

23 minutes ago, Jack said:

By luck I happened upon a photograph of another Aguinaldos box on this website (in the scrolling photo at the top.)

Cheers Jack, you're a legend.

Familiar with the site, and they have fantastic stuff, but i've somehow never seen this, have they put it up recently?

The fact that they have it across different brands does actually makes me think, there is an outside chance it could be some sort of staff bonus.   But who gets bonuses under a communist regime? All very confusing. 

Cheers dude, you are a star!

[99call]

20 minutes ago, Jack said:

I find all of these older boxes to be fascinating in both their function and attention to detail

Yep, me too, lovely things. Often quite crude in terms of cabinet maker can achieve, but it all just adds to the charm

[Jack]

3 hours ago, 99call said:

...The fact that they have it across different brands does actually makes me think, there is an outside chance it could be some sort of staff bonus.   But who gets bonuses under a communist regime? All very confusing....

Confusing, but such a challenge!

This gentleman, in the U.S., has a fantastic site that I've used to try and narrow down the markings on some boxes:

http://cigarhistory.info/Dating/Dating_Cuban_Boxes.html

The specific page above shows some of the Cuban box markings from the late 19th century into the 1960's

Apparently "Made in Havana" in the double-ring oval would not have been used much after 1940.  After that is "Made in Havana - Cuba" sometime in the late 1940's (I previously owned a box with these markings that was dated to September, 1950.)

At this time all of the cigar factories were still privately owned so incentives to the employees wouldn't have been out of question.  Factories would have been competing with one another and it is possible that treating your workers to little gifts would have helped to retain staff.

I only have one box with those same "Made in Havana" markings and it's simply amazing that so much keen effort was put into making these.  The Partagas box I own, shown in the below photos, also has a Cuban export tax stamp on the bottom (an overstamp of a Series C on top of a Series B ) with the date "1931" contained in the overstamp print.  Sadly the slide-lock mechanism on mine is missing, but the top of the box is what this one is all about.

It is interesting to note that this box appears to be the inspiration for the replica humidor that Habanos issued in 2007:

http://www.habanos.com/en/noticias/replica-humidor-antiguo-de-partagas/

As an aside, if you haven't visited selected items from the collection of Paolo Jucker, you should!

https://collectionpaolojucker.com/en/index.html

Additionally this auction catalog from Galerie Yannick David is also very helpful:

https://docplayer.fr/5650576-Galerie-yannick-david.html

 

[99call]

On 1/15/2019 at 7:27 PM, Jack said:

The Partagas box I own

Just got back from holiday. This is a lovely box. Congrats really nice pick up.  Yep I've enjoyed the Jucker collection for a few fears, love the book humidor. That would be the holy grail for me. 

The Yannick link is new to me, cheers. very much appreciated. 

Thanks for all your help mate.

[Jack]

14 hours ago, 99call said:

Just got back from holiday. This is a lovely box. Congrats really nice pick up.  Yep I've enjoyed the Jucker collection for a few fears, love the book humidor. That would be the holy grail for me. 

The Yannick link is new to me, cheers. very much appreciated. 

Thanks for all your help mate.

I believe that you may be in luck!!  With a quick cheque for €1M, you get an instant collection.

https://www.cigars-connect.com/a-secret-museum-in-milan/

[Derboesekoenig]

12 minutes ago, Jack said:

I believe that you may be in luck!!  With a quick cheque for €1M, you get an instant collection.

https://www.cigars-connect.com/a-secret-museum-in-milan/

If you consider the time and effort and what his collection might include, I think that might even be a steal. I would at least love to go check it out. I think it would be really neat. Who wants to go to Milan? We'll make it a group buy 

[99call]

12 minutes ago, Jack said:

I believe that you may be in luck!!  With a quick cheque for €1M, you get an instant collection.

https://www.cigars-connect.com/a-secret-museum-in-milan/

Potentially a pretty cheap asking price. Not that I have the means! Ha!

[Smallclub]

If I show you my “cajun” my father will force you to marry me 

[99call]

This just arrived with me....absolutely over the moon.  "Upmann Cinco Bocas"   and three cigars that (although banded incorrectly) may or may not be original to the box. I will never know.

 

[JohnS]

Wow @99call, Cuban Cigar Website lists these as 'very rare'!

[99call]

30 minutes ago, JohnS said:

Wow @99call, Cuban Cigar Website lists these as 'very rare'!

Yep, I've only ever seen 5 of them.  Super happy to have snagged one

[Jack]

@99call Very impressive and quite rare.  So rare I knew a group of gents that had them recreated in Cuba a few years ago (not with any factory logo.)  Great find!

[99call]

Still a lot of work to do, but am enjoying saving these fellas.   All I need now is 200 RA Petit Coronas!!.   Interesting the older version has hand scored, hand cut dove tail joints, whilst the newer one, has its joints routed on a jig.