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Wiggenhorn
Cigar Manufactory
Established
1858
1858 Established
1905 Empty cigar boxes must be destroyed.
They can no longer be used for display purposes, if they have trademarks or
other decorations upon them.
The new order, it is expected,
will cause a stir among dealers. Boxes which have been emptied of cigars, or
empty, unstamped, labeled boxes sent out from factories for decorative purposes
were used by dealers to fill up shelves and give stores appearance of fullness.
This no longer can be done, according to the ruling of the international
department at Washington ... It will be unlawful for any dealer to make any use
of empty cigar boxes, if there remains upon the box either the government
revenue stamp, the caution notice required on all boxes or the brand mark
including the factory and federal district number. The order says dealers must be
punished if boxes with any of the marks enumerated are displayed. The
punishment is a fine for $50 to $500. Apr 2 WL
1905 Last week, the Wiggenhorn Bros., the extensive cigar manufactures of this
city was incorporated as the Wiggenhorn Bros. Co.,
and capitalized at $50,000. The corporation organized by the election of the
following officers: President, Constance Wiggenhorn;
vice-president, Guido W. Wiggenhorn; Sec'y, and Treas. Julius W. Wiggenhorn. It is one of the largest manufacturers of
cigars in the west, and their cigars are in great demand all over the country
because of the excellent quality of tobacco and manufacture. Nov 17 WL
1908 Wiggenhorn Bros. 50th Anniversary
Will Celebrate
the Event on Saturday, August 1st, 1908
On
Saturday of this week the well-known cigar manufacturing firm of Wiggenhorn Bros. of this city will celebrate its 50th
anniversary of its business career in Watertown. From a small beginning in 1858
the business of the firm has grown to one of the largest of the kind in the
northwest, and but few if any firm in the country has the reputation of making
as fine cigars as Wiggenhorn Bros. The product of the
firm is sold all over this section of the country and in fact all over the
northwest. This success of the firm could not exist unless it made fine cigars,
for the reason that in no other business is there so much competition. The firm
of Wiggenhorn Bros. was launched in Watertown in 1858
for the manufacture of cigars by Constance Wiggenhorn
and Eugene Wiggenhorn as partners. The latter retired
from the firm in 1886, and the two sons of the former, Julius Wiggenhorn and Guido E. Wiggenhorn
became members thereof, which is now known as the Wiggenhorn
Bros. Co., and besides the factory in this city, it has three branches elsewhere. July 31 WG
In
1894, the firm erected the magnificent building now occupied. This is 50x106
feet, four stories high. The lower floor is used for storage purposes. The
second floor is devoted to the office, shipping room and cigar storage. The third
floor contains the manufacturing departments, and the fourth storage and drying
room. The accompanying cut will give an idea of the exterior of the building.
The interior is finished in a most attractive and convenient manner. An elevator connects all the floors, and the
entire building is steam heated and electric lighted. It also has a complete
waterworks system of its own. The sanitary arrangements for the convenience,
comfort and health of the inmates of the building are complete, and cleanliness
on the part of employees is one of the strict rules of the establishment, so
that the cigars are entirely free from any contamination.
This
old reliable firm has been the source of great gratification to the people of
Watertown, and its members have done a great deal for the advancement and
prosperity of our city, hence all our people hope to see it continue as
prosperous in the future as in the past. The Milwaukee Free Press of last Sunday said in a writeup
of the firm as follows:
Wiggenhorn cigars
are made in the same honest way today as in the pioneer days. The steady growth
and enlargement of the business have not in one whit altered the firm's
time-honored policy of putting nothing but honest value into their cigars.
Competition and the deceptive blending of inferior tobaccos, practiced by many
manufacturers and made possible by modern ingenuity, have not swayed the firm
in their determination to give their customers the same honest Wiggenhorn quality, nor have they shattered their
confidence in their customer's ability to appreciate quality.
This
statement can be substantiated when it is known that in a few years one of the
latest products of the firm, Modern Flora, have had a sale of 50,000,000. The La
Flora, the Commercial and the Latest Out and other well known and popular
brands are made by the Wiggenhorn Bros. Co.
1908
08 07 C. D. Wiggenhorn
and R. G. Wiggenhorn, sons of Julius Wiggenhorn, left here on Tuesday for Montana, the former on
a business trip, and the latter to locate at Red Ledge in that state, where he
will practice law. He recently graduated
from the law department of the state university. His many Watertown friends wish him
success WG
1909
01 08 Albert Fuermann
on the road as travelling salesman for Wiggenhorn
Bros WG
1914 By 1914 or so Wiggenhorns
went out of business. Most of the other
cigar makers in Watertown got started by working for the Wiggenhorn
Bros.
__________________________
Cross References:
Eugene Wiggenhorn
was the son of the famous Watertown Wiggenhorns. His father, William, owned and operated the Buena Vista House, now known as Loops, on N.
Fourth St, in 1848, shortly after he arrived here with his family.
Look for more info on the family
in the late Charles Wallman's book, The German-Speaking 48ers, Builders of
Watertown.
Constance Wiggenhorn,
portrait
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, 1890c, Souvenier plate.
Back "The cleanest and best equipped CIGAR MANUFACTORY in the
northwest, est 1858"
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, 102-104
W Main (PC_064),
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, 1902, from Picturesque Watertown booklet
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, drawing
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, drawing, 1895
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, Cigarmakers, may or
may not be Wiggenhorns
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, 1897 ad
Wiggenhorn Bros Cigar Manufactory, drawing
Wiggenhorn Bros float, 107 and
William Schimmel
(William Schimmel & Son cigar store) worked for Wiggenhorn Brothers when he was but 15 years of age
Edw. Schultz, traveling salesman for Wiggenhorn
The old Wiggenhorn cigar factory,
c.1895, NW end of Main St. bridge, became the Wisconsin National Bank, Valley
Bank. Torn down in 1985 and Town &
Country Bank constructed. WTTN radio
started in Wiggenhorn building, Dr. E. Allen Miller
had his offices on the second floor, Mr. Clifford, the lawyer, had his office
on the second floor and just before it was torn down the old Nickel & Dime
Theatre Co. met on the third floor.
