This
file portion of www.watertownhistory.org
website
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 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
