| Music and cigars aren't something I usually equate | | | | The earliest known cigar box instrument is believed |
| with each other. In fact, cigars are almost the last | | | | to have been concocted during the Civil war. This is |
| type of smoke I think of when I turn the dial of the | | | | based on the discovery of a drawing by Edwin |
| radio. If I hear Ryan Adams, I imagine him on stage | | | | Forbes, a French artist working for the Union Army. |
| surrounded by a grayish cloud, a cigarette dangling | | | | This drawing features two soldiers sitting around a |
| from his mouth. If I hear Bing Crosby, I imagine that | | | | campfire, one watching the other play a cigar box |
| his White Christmas also involves a black pipe. And, if | | | | fiddle. |
| I hear Willie Nelson, I think of a type of smoke sure | | | | Eras marked by poverty saw cigar box instruments, |
| to make him hungry for some Kenny Rogers | | | | particularly cigar box guitars, begin to flourish. Both |
| Roasters. Cigars, however, don't typically cross my | | | | the blues movement and the emergence of jug |
| mind when I think of music. | | | | bands are believed to have been facilitated, at least |
| It turns out this is a misconception on my part: cigars, | | | | in part, by cigar box guitars and the Great |
| or rather their boxes, contain some of the true roots | | | | Depression, leaving so many people broke and out of |
| of music. | | | | work, became a catalyst for these homemade |
| Cigar box guitars are homemade guitars where used | | | | instruments. |
| cigar boxes serve as the resonator, echoing the | | | | During these times, many people couldn't afford |
| vibrations that cause sound. Used by many poverty | | | | guitars so they simply made their own. Using cigar |
| stricken musicians, these instruments forever have a | | | | boxes, screen wire and broom handles, as well as |
| place in the history of song. In fact, cigar box guitars | | | | anything else they could find, countless children made |
| go all the way back to the 19th century. | | | | playable instruments. Since these instruments were |
| Before 1840, according to the curator of the National | | | | made by so many different people, they had many |
| Cigar Museum, Dr. Tony Hyman, cigars were not | | | | different varieties. Some cigar box guitars had one |
| shipped in boxes but large crates, crates that would | | | | string, some had three or four. Some had frets up |
| hold over 100 cigars at a time. These crates were | | | | the neck, some did not. Some of the creators built |
| found to be too big in size for efficient shipping and | | | | their guitar and simply moved on, some grew up to |
| were eventually reduced into smaller crates that | | | | be the trail blazers of rock and roll. |
| would hold much fewer sticks. And so, the cigar box | | | | Among the notable musicians believed to have played |
| was born. | | | | cigar box guitars at some point are Carl Perkins, Jimi |
| About the time cigar boxes emerged, cigar smoking | | | | Hendrix, George Benson, Ted Nugent, BB King, and |
| did as well: people from all walks of life indulged, | | | | Ed King of Lynyrd Skynyrd. |
| leaving their cigar boxes empty in the process. Picked | | | | Part of so much of our nation's musical past, the |
| up by innovators and creators, these empty cigar | | | | cigar box guitar has an entire museum dedicated to it. |
| boxes were quickly turned into guitars, banjos, and | | | | The National Cigar Box Guitar Museum is located in |
| fiddles. Unbeknownst at the time, these instruments | | | | York, Pennsylvania and features a wide display of |
| would soon give those who were too poor to afford | | | | various cigar box guitars as well as the stories of the |
| a guitar a chance to experiment musically. | | | | legendary musicians who played them. |