Alumna's photos show how Cuba's world-renowned cigars are crafted

At the Partagas Royal Tobacco Factory in Havana, employees are allowed to smoke as many cigars as they wish but cannot take any home. Helen Kleinberg

By Sheezan Bakali

It is almost impossible to get hold of a box of world-renowned Cuban cigars in the United States, and few American travelers visit Cuba. But Cornell alumna Helen Kleinberg '48 is one who has been to Cuba and back, and she has captured the making of the much coveted Cuban cigar in photos now on exhibit at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Having entered Cuba by traveling first through Mexico last April, Kleinberg visited and photographed the Partagas Real Fabrica de Tabacos, a cigar factory built in 1845.

"My husband and I both became interested in Cuba after seeing the TV coverage of the Pope's visit with Fidel Castro at the beginning of 1998," she said. "We felt that the Pope's visit was a sign that Cuba is on the verge of change, and we wanted to see the country before that change occurs."

At the factory, Kleinberg documented modern-day workers following the time-old tradition of hand rolling cigars. "I was told that a box of 25 fine Cuban cigars that cost approximately $120 U.S. in Cuba will sell for $650 in New York City," Kleinberg wrote in her description of the exhibit.

"Employees are allowed to smoke all the cigars they wish, as long as they do not take any cigars out of the factory," she writes. Some
of these workers, Kleinberg points out, have been making cigars at Partagas for over 40 years. "Red paper stars [pictured in the exhibit] in front of some workers indicate their high production. It is a great honor to be awarded the star," she said.

The Kheel Center for Labor Management Documentation and Archives in conjunction with ILR's Martin P. Catherwood Library arranged for Kleinberg's photos to be exhibited on level two of the classroom wing of Ives Hall until December.

Catherwood Library Director Gordon Law said, "It's really a fascinating view of the inside of the factory. [We can get] an impression of what it must be like to work in this industry making some of the most famous cigars in the world."