Page "Cigar" Paragraph 10

In New York, cigars were made by rollers working in their own homes.

It was reported that as of 1883, cigars were being manufactured in 127 apartment houses in New York, employing 1, 962 families and 7, 924 individuals.

A state statute banning the practice, passed late that year at the urging of trade unions on the basis that the practice suppressed wages, was ruled unconstitutional less than four months later.

The industry, which had relocated to Brooklyn and other places on Long Island while the law was in effect, then returned to New York.