White Owl Cigars have been about for many many years and I have smoked them for so long as I can remember. I came across an article from July 1932 about the General Cigar company, which manufacturer’s White Owls. At the time, these machine made cigars were being sold at 7 cents. And that price was a bit to high for cigar smokers of that day. The median price of a machine made was about 5 cents. Many folks went to General to make them lower their price down to five cents. Not only did they need the price reduced, but they didn’t need the stogie to be modified at all . They wanted the same size and quality filler at a lower cost. White Owl cigars are made with the most expensive filler that the US grows and is a top quality cigar that some aficionado’s didn’t mind paying some extra cents. Many executives of the company weren’t prepared to modify the price, they would be making the lowest profit from the change and other companies using scraps and damaged ends of tobacco would still be making a significant profit margin, for less superior cigars. In the end, the decision was made to low the costs, but keeping the practice of great long filler and over sized cigars. Once the reduction was put into effect, the company broke records for rapid increase in consumption. They managed to do this with organized production and vast output. I wish they still only cost five cents per cigar, that would save me a lot of cash, I believe that I would be alright with paying the 7 cents too.