of Connecticut Valley cigar leaf showed some improve- 

 ment. Today, cigar consumption in the States is in the 

 range of its banner years. A growing consumer interest 

 has given impetus to promotional methods and brought 

 about the introduction of new brands and new styles in 

 cigars. 



Tobacco has been woven into the fabric of Connecti- 

 cut history for more than three centuries. In the colonial 

 period its record was one of mere continuity rather than 

 dramatic interest. Then, early in the national period, 

 Yankee ingenuity took a leaf that was something of an 

 orphan in the market places and converted it into a sal- 

 able commodity— the cigar. That initiated a new national 

 industry. 



Influenced by the growing commerce in cigars, Con- 

 necticut farmers sought to improve the basic product. 

 Their successful search for a better leaf resulted in a 

 new agriculture in America. That achievement was 

 twice repeated until, finally, the production of excellent 

 binder and wrapper leaf became almost a monopoly of 

 the state. Thus, the industrial imagination and drive of 

 some progressive inhabitants gave Connecticut a unique 

 place in the long history of tobacco through a series of 

 pioneering achievements . 



48 



