THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506200110
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Sam Martinette
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Once upon a time it wasn't unheard of for a gentleman to finish his meal in a nice restaurant, order a glass of brandy or port and light up a fine cigar.
Smoking a cigar as a digestive aid has gone the way of the bald eagle - nearly extinct before younger generations have made a comeback. And if smoke-shop owner D.E. ``Chad'' Chadbourn has his way there will be more cigar-friendly restaurants in Hampton Roads someday.
Chadbourn has been in the tobacco business for 20 years, first at the Tinder Box at Lynnhaven Mall, and more recently at Emerson's Fine Tobacco at Military Circle. Earlier this month he opened a second Emerson's downtown, in the old Frank Thomas Clothier location at the foot of Granby Street.
``It's a matter of accommodation,'' Chadbourn says, referring to smoking and restaurants. ``You don't want to eat when someone's blowing smoke in your face. We do `smokers' in restaurants and private clubs that have an area or separate room that can accommodate it.''
When Chadbourn refers to a smoker, he's talking about a special meal designed with wines and cigars to match, normally an invitation-only special occasion where he will discuss the merits of the various cigars offered as part of the meal.
Chadbourn provides a wealth of tobacco lore while he cuts a cigar sample he has given a customer who has never before been in the shop.
``The cigar-store Indian comes from the turn of the century when there was a great immigration of people and so many language problems with new immigrants,'' he explains. ``Merchants had symbols so people would know what they sold. An apothecary would have a mortar and pestle, while a dentist would have a big tooth hanging outside the shop.''
In America, tobacco merchants chose Native Americans as a symbol because of their involvement with introducing tobacco to the colonists. In Europe you might find a Scotsman or a gentleman with snuff as a shop symbol, Chadbourn says.
Emerson's Fine Tobacco has an old-time feel to it, with refurbished hardwood display cases, custom-blended pipe tobacco and a wall of cigars ranging in price from 50 cents to $12. Cigar aficionados will recognize names such as Savinelli, Avo, Creedo, Dianas, Dunhills and Macanudos among the 60-some brands. Perhaps the most asked about cigars are the rolled Culebras, three to a pack, threaded together in the style of cigar rollers who want a handy way to carry a day's supply in a shirt or coat pocket.
There are pipes, of course, from a $3.95 Mississippi Meerschaum corn cob to briar pipes that cost in the hundreds. Emerson's carries cigar cases and cutters, collectible Zippo lighters, specially designed humidors and many other tools of the smoking trade. The shop also carries imported cigarettes, such as Player's from England, Gauloises and Gitanes from France and more. Oddly, only about 4 percent of the shop's business is expected to come from the sale of domestic cigarettes.
``About 70 percent of our business comes from the sale of cigars,'' Chadbourn says.
The old-time image of the cigar smoker as an overweight businessman in shirt sleeves with an unlit, half-chewed cigar clamped between his teeth is no longer valid, he adds.
``Most of our cigar customers are in the 33 to 35 age group, or more broadly, between their late 20s and mid 40s,'' he says, adding that some are women.
Two things led younger people away from cigarettes toward cigars - and in some cases pipes - although most pipe smokers tend to be older men, Chadbourn says.
``There was a tremendous enthusiasm for pipes among young men during the '70s, when the first Surgeon General's report on smoking came out,'' he said.
When the move to curb smoking in public began during the '80s, cigars and pipes grew in popularity.
``They don't really involve a dependency,'' Chadbourn says. ``When cigarette smokers will go outside in a rainstorm to smoke, a pipe or a cigar smoker will wait to go home to smoke.
``Cigars are associated with celebration. With the advent of people being very, very busy, they have become something very special. Like a fine dinner or a great after-dinner liquer.''
The new Emerson's Fine Tobacco is located at 116 Granby St. (624-1520) and is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Chadbourn or manager Larry Sarosdy say they will provide the names of cigar-friendly restaurants in Hampton Roads. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SAM MARTINETTE
D.E. ``Chad'' Chadbourn is the owner of the new Emerson's Fine
Tobacco location at the foot of Granby Street.
by CNB