Ed Johnson (seated), proprietor of the Tacoma Cigar Co. at 259 So. 13th, was photographed in March of 1949 hand rolling cigars. Mr. Johnson opened his own cigar stand at this location in 1917, when business outgrew the cigar factory that he and his brothers operated in the basement of the Lucerne building, 418 So.9th. At the height of his business, he had three cigar makers sitting side by side at the window where they could be viewed from the street. By 1949, the business was reduced to himself and one assistant. He started selling beer from this same location at the end of Prohibition, 14 ounces for a nickel. Due to the high cost of tobacco and taxes, he quit making cigars around 1953, one of the last to quit the business in the state, but he continued to operate his open air tavern from the cigar counter until his death at the age of 85 on November 17, 1967. (TNT 8/21/1949, pg 4, 8/9/64, pg. A10, 3/19/67, pg. A13, 11/18/67, pg. 2)

Johnson, Ed; Tacoma Cigar Co. (Tacoma); Cigars;