Cigar production at L’Épiphanie: remnants of a prolific industry

The era when the cigar industry was queen at L’Épiphanie resurfaces in the collective memory, thanks in particular to a mural recently installed on a building in the city center of the small municipality of Lanaudière.

“The cigar industry was predominant because there were a lot of manufacturers and a lot of people working as much for the culture as for the finishing of the product,” explained Pierre Picard, director of recreation and culture at the City. of Epiphany.

The cigar industry was well established in L’Épiphanie at the end of the 19th century, we were able to read in archival documents provided by Mr. Picard and Donald Bricault, a former mayor, who participated in the realization of a book on the history of the municipality published a few months ago (“Epiphany: friends of history”). Then, cigar manufacturing led to the manufacture of cigar boxes in 1925, with the establishment of The Quebec Box Company, also known as Canada Manufacturing.

The town center mural, inaugurated this fall to highlight the history, recalls the 1920s when passenger and freight trains crossed in front of the village station. An old cart is drawn there, on which appear, among other things, cigar boxes of the Edmon brand, cigars and boxes made at L’Épiphanie.

At one time, over 350 people worked at Canada Manufacturing, representing about 10% of the town’s population. “They apparently offered competitive salaries, the best hourly rate in 1952 was $0.74,” explained Donald Bricault.

But, at the end of the 1950s, Canada Manufacturing had changed its vocation, to manufacture small wooden articles. Then, the building was completely destroyed by a violent fire in 1979.

Another factory, the General Cigar, also flourished at L’Épiphanie. Cigars of well-known brands, including “Peg Top”, were rolled there. Dozens of women were in charge of rolling the cigars in molds appropriate to each brand.

The cigar industry lasted from 1895 to 1955 at L’Épiphanie.

Tobacco cultivation is also part of the history of L’Épiphanie

In addition to the production of cigars and cigar boxes, the culture of tobacco has historically been very present in L’Épiphanie and its surroundings.

This type of cultivation began around 1845 in the area. “In our parish, we grew strong tobacco, the kind that was used for making cigars or for smoking in a pipe,” explained Amédée Poitras, a co-author of the book “L’Épiphanie: les amis de l’histoire,” adding that there was also something for the heaviest, those who chewed the little “grass-clod”.

“To grow tobacco, you need strong, hard soil, we had it here at L’Épiphanie,” said Mr. Poitras. I would say 98% of growers also had a tobacco barn.”

And when the tobacco was ripe, the growers offered their production over the counter to the factories of the village or to local dealers who sold them in the factories of Montreal, who made cigars, cigarettes or chewing tobacco.

Then tobacco was pushed aside and farmers turned to other crops in the last decades of the 20th century as global demand declined against a backdrop of increased awareness among people about the risks of smoking to health.