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