Marsh-Wheeling Stogies: America's Oldest Cigar



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[ABOVE: The famous label used on the Marsh-Wheeling cigar box]



THE COUNTRY'S OLDEST CIGAR COMPANY

Marsh-Wheeling stogies are a unique type of cigar. They are both affordable and are a good cigar for everyday, knock-around smoking.

From Marsh-Wheeling:

Marsh Wheeling was founded by Mifflin M. Marsh in 1840. Located in Wheeling, West Virginia, it was the oldest cigar manufacturing company founded in the United States. After beginning production and sale from his home, Mr. Marsh developed the company and opened a factory first on Water Street and later on 12th Street between Water and Main. In 1908, the company opened the historic location at 905-915 Market Street.





M. Marsh & Son is most notably remembered for the Marsh Wheeling brand of stogies. The cigar's famous box became a known staple of the tobacco industry.



A box also appeared in the movie The Green Mile as the home of Mr. Jangles, a mouse kept by one of the prisoners.


The Marsh Wheeling brand had a reputation for quality from coast to coast. The Marsh-Wheeling cigars got their name "stogie" because they were sold to the drivers of the wagons heading west on the National Road coming from the Conestoga Valley in PA. They were also sold to crews and passengers of the steamboats traveling down the Ohio River, which put in at the Wheeling wharf.



FAMOUS MARSH-WHEELING SMOKERS: Daniel Webster, Annie Oakley & P.T. Barnum.



[ABOVE: Annie Oakley, in between puffs on a Marsh-Wheeling]



Sadly, Marsh-Wheeling's connection to its birthplace, Wheeling, WV came to an end in 2001. The Wheeling plant was closed and the company was bought by National Cigar, which moved production to Frankfort, Indiana. The Marsh-Wheeling building, just a block from the Wheeling suspension bridge remains for sale.



MORE stories on cigars, cigar box art, care and maintenance, products and reviews can be found at DBKP's Cigar Bistro.

[Originally posted at DBKP's Cigar Bistro as "Marsh-Wheeling: America’s Oldest Cigar Company"]


by Mondo Frazier
images:
* DBKP file
* drudge22.blogspot.com
* http://www.fcsutler.com
sources
* Marsh-Wheeling







 
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