Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper. According to the article, Florida had "become a great cigar and tobacco centre, especially for [C]lear Havana goods," a cigar brand. The cigar industry was first brought to Florida by Cuban immigrants in the 1830s and became one of the most important industries in the Southeast by the last quarter of the 19th century, with Tampa serving as the cigar manufacturing center in the state. In the late 1800s, cigar factories began to appear in various other Florida cities, such as Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Cigar manufacturing first appeared in Sanford sometime between 1909 and 1912. The Florida cigar industry came to its peak in the first quarter of the 20th century, but then declined during the Great Depression and World War II, due to the accumulation of labor union conflicts over the years, the mechanization of production, and changing consumer demands. The industry was revitalized during the 1950s as production soared, despite the decline of the number of workers. Following the Cuban Revolution of the late 1950s and the U.S. embargo on Cuban products in 1962, the Florida cigar industry again declined. The Cuban embargo included tobacco, thus forcing American cigar rollers to begin using Dominican tobacco.

The article also discusses prospects for the leather industry in Florida, which had a virtually unlimited supply of palmetto, a root plant commonly used in the tanning process. Lastly, Leffler briefly cites the starch, tapioca, and artesian water industries.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper, July 19, 1895, page 384: Cigar Making Collection, Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper, July 19, 1895, page 384.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper, July 19, 1895, page 384.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper, July 19, 1895.]]> Sanford Museum, Sanford, Florida.]]> Sanford Collection, Seminole County Collection, RICHES of Central Florida.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper.]]> Manufacturers Record: A Weekly Southern Industrial Railroad and Financial Newspaper and is provided here by RICHES of Central Florida for educational purposes only.]]>