[START TAPE 1, SIDE A]

This interview is with Mrs. Estela Delgado (ED), a Tampa native. She currently lives in Tampa. She is a long-time resident of Ybor City and a retired cigar maker. This interview is being conducted on July 6, 2001 at Mrs. Delgado's home. The interviewer is Marti Everitt (ME), representing the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System's oral history collection project.

[Recorder is turned off and then back on]

Marti Everitt: All right, we're recording. Mrs. Delgado, tell us about when you started, when you first learned to wrap cigars.

Estela Delgado: I started when I was fourteen years old. I had to skip school ( ) parents, you know, to help. And whatever I can do, ( ).

ME: Did you parents work on this cigar factory?

ED: Yeah. Yeah, they did.

ME: Well, who taught you how to wrap cigars?

ED: Oh, it was my father. My father. ( ).

ME: Mm hmm.

ED: ( ) machine, working machine.

ME: You worked the machines that made cigars back then?

ED: ( ).

ME: How long did you work in the cigar factory?

ED: About thirty-eight years.

ME: Wow.

ED: Mm hmm. I was fourteen. ( ) I, I was younger than fifteen. ( ) a year after that, about fifteen or sixteen.

ME: What year would that have been? Do you remember?

ED: Hmm. ( ) my family--. [Pause] '38, '37, '38- something like that. ( ) '37, '38. I remember.

ME: I think I'm seeing that people have heard a lot about the cigar factories is the lectors, the men who will read to you.

ED: Mm hmm. Yeah.

ME: Can you tell us about that?

ED: Yeah, well, my husband had a uncle ( ), who used to read them the ( ).

ME: ( ) somebody in your family.

ED: What's his name?

Leonard Delgado: Maximo. Maximo Delgado. He was a, a reader in the cigar factory. Yes.

ME: What kind of things did they read?

LD: They read the Spanish paper and--

ED: The newspaper.

LD: --( ) into Spanish. And the cigar makers ( ) at the same time. They get the news every day. ( ) cigar factory.

ME: Did they only read the newspaper?

LD: I guess so. ( ) brought the news to the--. ( ) and read some---

ED: Maybe, maybe, maybe they--. I don't know, but I think they, they read novels, too.

LD: Maybe. Maybe they read novels, too.

ME: Right!

LD: Yes. No. Yes.

ME: I heard an interesting story on the radio about lectors, and it said that that was a very prestigious position.

LD: And so it was. And nobody thought it could do that. And it takes a certain person to read, to read in the cigar factories.

ME: Mm hmm.

LD: ( ).

ME: And did they go from different--, from one factory to another, or would they stay?

LD: No, my uncle used to read only one factory.

ME: Mm hmm.

ED: ( ) different factory.

LD: ( ) reader.

ME: Reader. Oh, OK. Do you remember what he would read? I mean, you said something about the newspapers, and you thought novels? Do you remember ( )?

ED: ( ). No, I had to, had to work. [Laughter]

ME: Right. Did you have to make a set number of cigars every day?

ED: Oh, yes. We had to make at least 360 cigars in eight hours. ( ).

ME: That's a lot.

ED: Yeah.

ME: I visited a cigar factory one time, when I first moved to Tampa, and one thing that touched me about it is the way it smelled.

ED: ( ).

ME: When you were--, when you said you had to quit school at fourteen, what was it like to be a child in Tampa before you went to the cigar factory?

ED: Well, what was, what was that, again?

ME: What was it like to be a child in, in Tampa in Ybor City? Is that where you lived- in Ybor City?

ED: Yeah, in Ybor City. Yeah. I was born in Ybor City. Well, it really--. There was nothing much for us to do, just to lie around. All that--, thirteen years old you quit playing with dolls.

ME: Oh, yeah?

ED: Yeah. We didn't have a Christmas like kids have nowadays. We used to--, one doll or we use to dress them up ( ) for a year.

ME: So you got a new outfit every year?

ED: Yeah, never had a Christmas tree ( ).

ME: Wow. Was that what your family--, your culture not to have a Christmas tree, or did they just not ( )?

ED: They couldn't afford it, I guess.

ME: What did your parents do?

ED: Well, cigar. ( ). My momma was in shipping; my father ( ) unload, unload cigars.

ME: Mm hmm.

ED: We had Buckeye. ( ).

ME: You had what?

ED: A Buckeye.

LD: ( ) "Buckeyes." ( ) cigar factory ( ) probably six or seven ( ). Buckeye ( ).

ME: How do you spell that- do you know?

LD: B-u-c-k, buck-eye. Eye. Buckeye.

ME: Oh, OK. OK.

ED: ( ) when we were driving about a ( ). And in 1938 is when I started working in cigar factory.

ME: So you made cigars at home, as well as in the factory?

ED: That was ( ) ready.

ME: Did you have brothers and sisters?

ED: Yeah, I had two brothers and one sister.

ME: Did they work in the cigar factory also?

ED: No.

ME: Were they younger than you or older?

ED: Old.

ME: Older?

ED: ( ). My sister didn't like it. [Chuckle]

ME: When did you meet Mr. Delgado?

ED: When did I meet him?

ME: Mm hmm.

ED: Well, he ( ). At the Cuba Club, they used to have a ( ) student, who asked my brothers ( ). [Chuckle]

ME: How old were you then?

ED: About sixteen.

ME: So you met him when you were sixteen?

ED: Mm hmm.

ME: What was that courtship like?

LD: Very good. I went into in the service. I spent five years in the service. I came out, and I got married.

ME: Well, you'd known each other quite a while before you--

ED: ( ) married; going to be fifty-six years in November.

ME: Wow, congratulations. That's wonderful.

LD: ( ) one block. I used to go to Columbus Drive and 13th Street, and she used to live on 15th Avenue and 13th Street. ( ) for years.

ED: I was ( ) in--, right in back of the Cuban Club on 10th and--. 10th Avenue was ( ) and 13th Street and 13th Avenue.

ME: Wow. Now, what--. Tell me about the Cuban Club. I've heard a lot about it. And I didn't grow up in Tampa, and I'm not familiar with the club. But I understand they were very important.

ED: It was--. You had dances and a picnic. You had yellow rice and chicken ( ).

LD: It was a social club; that's all it was--

ME: That's right.

LD: --that had members, and we paid so much a week. It was important you were included ( ) the social club. If you was a member ( ), we used to go to the club. But the ( ) between 15th and 16th Street. And you'd go to that Republico Club, which is on 13th Street and 8th Avenue. Now they call it 13th Street ( ) Avenida ( ).

ED: ( )--

ME: Mm hmm.

ED: --13th Street. [Chuckle]

LD: So now, they have a restaurant there. ( ).

ED: ( ).

ME: ( )?

LD: It's a restaurant there.

ED: ( ) Ybor City ( ).

LD: ( ) that section, known as East-West ( ). That's Palm Avenue, from ( ).

ME: Now, when they would have these picnics and these dances, did they do that every weekend?

ED: No, they--. Once a month; once a month. And they used to have a lot of dances: ( ) dancing, a zoot suit dance. ( ) zoot suit, zoot suit ( ).

ME: No.

LD: [Laughter]

ED: Anyway, ( ). ( ) call them zoot suit.

ME: Su-su?

ED: Zoot suit ( ).

ME: And what were the su-su dance? That would be the refreshments?

ED: The what?

ME: Refreshments that you would eat?

ED: Yeah, well, yeah, you had ( ). And then they, and then they--. Remember the zoot suit that they used to wear?

LD: Zoot suit. Zoot suit.

ME: Like the baggy pants?

LD: Baggy pants, ( ).

ED: ( ) dress like that.

ME: The men dressed like that.

LD: Well, not too much over here. It was up in New York ( ).

ED: ( ).

ME: And what did the girls wear?

ED: Oh, we were all wearing evening gowns.

ME: You wore evening gowns?

ED: Oh, yeah.

ME: I saw a picture of two beautiful ladies in Ybor City, and they were wearing the Spanish costumes with the--, that thing over--, the lace over their heads, and everything like that. Did you ever wear anything like that?

ED: ( )

ME: Did you make your, your dresses?

ED: My mother, my mother used to make them.

ME: Your mother made them?

ED: Yes.

ME: I know that my mother, when she talks about going to a lot of dances when she was young, she always talks about how they made their own dresses and everything.

ED: And they used to have--, every, every week they had a ( ) dance, a ( ) dance, ( ) summer dance, for the flower govina.

ME: Govina?

ED: Govina.

ME: Like the flower?

ED: Yeah.

ME: Like an herb or something?

ED: Yeah, the govina dance.

LD: They used to have it every, every, every year. They used to go ( ).

ME: ( )?

ED: I used to go to dance on Saturday night, where there was Centro Esturiano, Centro Espanol, the Cuban Club. Then on Sunday, Centro Espanol had a Latin dance, dance, from, from four to eight.

ME: So you just danced your whole ( ) away, didn't you? [Laughter]

ED: ( ) the Cuban Club ( ) patio ( ).

ME: And did you go to all these dances with her?

LD: Well, I don't know if I can ( ).

ED: I used to go with my mother. All those dances I go with my mother ( ).

ME: Your mother went with you; she was your chaperone.

LD: ( ) herself. ( ) the dance ( ) her mother used to walk with us.

ME: So you were always chaperoned.

ED: Yeah.

ME: Until you got married?

ED: Yeah.

LD: In those days, ( ).

ED: ( ).

LD: ( ) pick up the girl at the door, and take her out, and know that ( ).

ME: Right, right.

LD: In those years, ( ).

ED: We, we used to go to dances on ( ). All the boys were going to dance class at the country club.

LD: We used to sit down. And her mother was sitting there, too. ( ) the boys, and take her out and dance, and go back to the ( ). Now, ( ) a different world.

ME: You had to be on your best behavior all the time, didn't you? [Laughter]

LD: That's right.

ME: I bet those mothers were pretty intimidating. ( ) scare the boys?

ED: No.

ME: No?

ED: Well, ( ).

ME: All the girls had their mothers there, too, didn't they?

ED: Mm hmm.

ME: That's interesting. I have a friend who is just a little bit older than me, and her parents never let her date unless she had a chaperone. She just took her brother. But she's the only person I know who ever went on dates when she had to have a chaperone.

LD: Different days, different, different parents, ( ) different ( ).

ME: Yes, it is.

LD: So, so that's the story of her life. I mean, she'd been with the cigar factory ( )--

ED: '8--, '86. It was in '86.

ME: You retired in '86?

ED: Mm hmm.

LD: She ( ). And she been retired for the last what, four--

ED: ( ) seventeen years.

LD: Seventeen years now.

ME: Ah!

LD: Yeah. She's been working all her life.

ME: And what did you do?

LD: Well, I used to go to school. I had a bicycle, and used to go to junior high school. From there, I used to go out and pick up the newspapers. And I used to deliver the Tampa Bay Times--

ME: Mm hmm.

LD: --at that corner.

ME: Where did you go to high school? Junior, junior high?

LD: ( ) High ( ). I just went through the 8th grade. I quit school, and I went on to work. And though ( ). I used to work on Shadowbox at ( ).

ME: The Shadowbox?

LD: The Shadowbox.

ME: What is that?

LD: 707 South Howard Avenue- used to be a night club--

ME: Oh, OK.

LD: --for the ( ). I used to do a ( ). I was about sixteen years old, I think--

ME: Mm hmm.

LD: --at that time, and ( ).

ME: Oh yeah?

LD: ( ) we had lot of murders around Tampa. So after they killed somebody, because over here was a--. In this city, in Tampa, we used to have what they call Bolita. Bolita is Spanish ( )--

ME: Somebody was ( ) about that this morning.

LD: I don't remember, so they used to ( ). They used to put a hundred balls inside the sack, and they used to throw them. You know, we had a lot of cafés, and you know--. And they used to pick up the cup that was ( ) pick out the number. ( ). I think that--, I think there used to be a nickel for three dimes- something like that.

ME: Mm hmm.

LD: But I think everybody used to play ( ) the things that people in Tampa. And we had a lot of ( ) like that, at the ( ) on 13th Street, ( ) on 12th Street, a place called 17th Street--

ED: ( ).

LD: --17th Street and 7th Avenue. They used to have this place called ( )--

ED: ( ).

LD: Yeah. And ( ) place where we ( ) Bolita, and we played--

ME: So every café would have their own Bolita game going?

LD: Yes, ma'am. So I went to work there in the Shadowbox at 707 South Howard Avenue. I was only sixteen years old. I was working at the bar. And behind that Shadowbox, they had a house in back. They--. I think it was two stories. They used to have apartments in there, and ( ) get together. And once in a while, ( ) take this to the back house. They had the money ( ). But I used to see a lot of people there. And I knew something was going on ( ). And--

ME: Were they playing cards- gambling and stuff like that?

LD: No. Nothing like ( ). They were having fun. [Laughter] ( ) over there by the ( ) having fun in there. ( ) I mean, something's going on. ( ) I don't know. ( ). I used to ring the bell--

ME: ( ). [Laughter]

LD: ( ). I used to work from seven at night to seven in the morning.

ME: Oh, my goodness.

LD: Twelve hours, seven days a week, $5 a week.

ME: Oh, my gosh. [Laughter]

LD: That was back in 1936, '37, and the manager there, his name was Billy ( ). He was the manager. And we had slot machines. ( ) slot machines there. At that time, I was also ( ) 11th Street. It had a big bedroom ( ), used to call ( ). ( ) gambling and slot machines. Well, once in a while, ( ) the owner ( ) Black Saturday, ( ). ( ) pick up some, some ( ) cigars. ( ).

ME: Now, was gambling legal, or was it illegal, or was it--

LD: It's legal.

ME: It was?

LD: Uh-huh, it was legal. At that time, I tell you, we didn't have too much ( ). I don't know how to say it, but everything was not on the up-and-up. ( ).

ME: [Laughter] Did people just look the other way?

LD: Look the other way, and--. ( ) politician was too strict, either.

ME: Mm hmm. They were probably in the middle of it.

LD: I, mm--. Well, but they talked a lot ( ). ( ) two years ( ) close it up. ( ) Bolita people, and everything closes up, OK. And you can ( ).

ME: I, I've never seen it. I've never--

LD: Well, you probably ( ). I don't think you were born at that time. [Laughter] ( ) and now everything is quiet. I mean, you know, it's, it's no more gambling and no more ( ). ( ) it's got to be very, very--

ME: Hidden.

LD: --hidden somewhere. But ( ).

ME: Well, you said that earlier. Tell me about that.

LD: Well, I'm aware of maybe about five or six that was murdered because--. There was one section, I think, the ( ) and anything ( ) gambling. So, at night, ( ) kill people. He used to be a big-time gambler and banker in Tampa. He used to work on ( ) Street, behind the station. Had nothing but ( ) inside the house. ( ), boom- he'd kill them.

ME: So, kind of like a mafia.

LD: Well, that's ( ) works. ( ), but it sounds like it. And then, ( ) there comes a noise. And on 15th Street somewhere, he was staying at this place. And he opened the window, and ( ).

ME: That sounds just like a movie.

LD: Yeah. And I remember--. I, I was about fifteen, sixteen years old, but ( ) Chicago ( ). And they killed him right there on 15th Street. He was in the gambling team. And ( ). He was killed, too. He was on the police ( ). And his brother ( ). [Laughter] And anything else ( ). We had so many ( ).

ME: Did the police get involved or did they just kind of--

LD: I don't remember. I don't remember. ( ). That's how it was. I don't remember. And they arrested this guy, and said he killed that guy and he shot that guy. ( ).

ME: Well, Tampa's grown a lot lately. I've been here about twenty years. And it's grown a lot since I moved in, but I can't imagine what it must've been like forty or fifty years ago. I mean, they talk about when, when Fowler Avenue was a dirt road.

LD: ( ) the Western Union ( ) telegraph ( ). At that time, they had the, the market on 50th Street and 7th Avenue. They had ( ). And I used to go through--, over to Morgan and Twiggs Street, where the Western Union was. And I used to go with my bicycle ( ) cut the tires.

ME: Oh, my goodness!

LD: And the--. Most of the road was dirt, so as I go I would just hold the bicycle on the side ( ).

ME: ( ) miles! Miles! [Laughter]

LD: Miles. It's a different Tampa, you know. I can say that Tampa now is completely different. It's not like it used to be sixty years ago, sixty-five years ago.

ME: Well, anyway--

LD: I'm eighty-two years old now, and I can tell you that, that story just like that.

ME: Ybor City must've been, a, a very community oriented--. Did you know most of the families that lived around you?

LD: Everybody knows ( ) center. Ybor City was--, like you say, it was very close. All the Spanish people, Italian people lived in Ybor City. At, at that time-- I'm talking about that time-- hardly anybody ever talked when you had bad to say to him. Somebody ( ). Most everybody knew each other. ( ) the ice man used to come and deliver the ice every day. ( )- you know, an ice box, you know, the refrigerator.

ME: Right!

LD: And we used to put the ice in the ice box and--.

ME: It must have been awfully hot.

LD: ( ). [Laughter]

ME: I guess you did need ice every day, didn't you?

LD: We did, we did. It was hot. [Laughter] Yeah, a lot has changed so much. ( ) stunk really bad. ( ) live in Ybor City. They're still alive, you know, most of them. [Chuckle] And they used to--. And we'd sit ( ) and cool down ( ). How we missed the lake. People could make hardly any money. See, there are ( ) probably make, what, $8 a week, maybe?

ME: Isn't that considered a good wage?

LD: Yeah, sure.

ME: Yeah?

LD: Eight dollars, ten dollars a week, yeah.

ED: When you get the--, when you make cigars, you make a bigger type of cigar you make, you get paid more.

ME: So if you made more cigars, you got paid less.

LD: ( ).

ED: I used to make ( ) $150. And I gave that much to my parents, who need it. I had my whole check; I gave it to them every week. So whatever I need, I give it, too. [Chuckle]

ME: Did they give you money back for your expense--, your--, like an allowance?

ED: Well, they gave me--. One year I needed shoes or ( ).

ME: ( ).

ED: And they ( ) nobody ( ).

LD: Well, that's a different, a different life, a different way of living. ( ). Things are better, you know.

ME: Maybe some things are better.

LD: Well, everything is much better. Yes, I used to worry over small things like that. Well, the summer of 1946 ( ) Army. I served about twenty years, eight months and twenty-one days in the service. I made a ( )--, I made a ( ) at it.

ME: No kidding.

LD: This ( ) fellow was wounded. I was stuck in ( ) for ( ). ( ) troop went looking for him. ( ) came back home; I got my discharge. I came on November the 15th, 1945. And we got married December ( ), 19--

ED: 45.

LD: --45.

ME: A month later.

LD: Yeah. We've been married for 56 years now.

ED: ( ) 56.

LD: ( ) 56? ( ) confused.

ME: Wow. Now, when you got married, did you have a big wedding, or did you have a church wedding?

ED: ( ).

LD: ( ) separate house. I had a little money saved because ( ) pension to my mother. And we had mortgaged ( ). If it wasn't for her--. My mother had over $2,000 in the post office safe.

ME: Oh, so she had saved some money to give back to you.

LD: ( ) spend the money. She lived with my brother and my sister a lot. And ( ).

ME: ( ) give it to you to start your married life.

LD: She gave it to me.

ME: Oh, really? That must have been quite a sum of money back then.

LD: Yeah, it was in 1945-- Right?-- when we got married- December the 15th. A friend of mine lived across the street from me ( ). He worked in the office. So when I came out, he told me, "Do you want to help with the ( )?" I said, "Sure, I ( )." So he got me a job there. So the last ( ) I closed, he told me, "Come on, take the car, and I'll introduce you to mutual management." So I went over there, and he introduced me to the mutual manager.

ME: The who manager?

LD: The manager. They called him the mutual.

ME: A mutual. OK.

LD: Mutual manager. So he told me, "OK." I met him, ( ) I'm not sure. A week before he opened, ( ).

ME: [Laughter]

LD: So with that, ( ). So this friend of mine said "Well, I'm going to introduce you Mr. ( ), ( ), a very, very nice person. ( ). And he was the general manager of the whole ( ). He introduced me to Mr. ( ). Mr. ( ) had told me--. And he said, "Yep," gave me an application, and said, "Fill it out." And then a letter from a sponsor. At that time, to work in a ( ) you had to have a letter of recommendation from the sponsor. So, ( ) was working ( ). ( ), he introduced me to Mr. ( )---

[END OF TAPE 1, SIDE A]

[START TAPE 1, SIDE B]

LD: Now?

ME: Yes.

LD: So the attorney's name is ( ). And he was ( ) Latin American lawyers. And I started working for them when I came out of ( ). And I picked it up a lot of things. ( ) for fifty years.

ME: Fifty years?

LD: About 1946 to 1996--

ME: Wow.

LD: ( ).

ME: And that's the ( ) college right there off of ( )?

LD: On ( ) Avenue, across from ( ) Tampa Golf Club.

ME: Right.

LD: I forgot ( ). ( ) in St. Petersburg ( ) Sarasota courthouse. ( ).

ME: What did you do there?

LD: I started fixing the windows ( ). And in 1946, when we had the ( ) 1946--. I'm sorry, 1996, we had a bad accident, right here ( ).

ME: You had a car accident?

LD: Car accident, and I, I cracked my pelvis--

ME: Oh, my goodness.

LD: --broke my hips, fractured my ribs. So I was in the hospital for a week. I was going back to work, and then I quit.

ME: So you must have been in your late seventies by then.

LD: Oh, well, what was, what was that, five years ago?

ED: Five years ago.

LD: Five years ago- I'm eighty-two. I was seventy-seven when I had the accident.

ME: And you were--, just kept on working at the time ( ) accident.

LD: I was ( ). A lot of people, eighty-five, ninety years, they're still working there. So you see, ( ).

ED: ( )?

ME: Pardon me?

ED: Want to drink something?

ME: No, I'm fine.

LD: Yeah.

ME: So a lot of the time, he was working at the dog track, and you were in the cigar factory.

LD: Cigar factory. So we had, we had it good. We bought a house. We built a house, a summer house. And I thought that this ( )--.

ME: Now, where was your house?

LD: It was at Palmer and 19th Street- East Palmer and 19th Street. It's about five blocks north of ( ). Now it's Martin Luther King and ( ) Avenue ( ). So we sold the house, and we bought this condominium. And we've been here about eleven years now.

ED: Already. Mm hmm.

ME: Well, you never went very far. This isn't really very far from Ybor City, is it?

LD: No, we're not too far from Ybor City. I think it's probably ( ) what, Tampa Heights or something.

ME: I don't know.

LD: ( ).

ME: Now you said you're from Key West.

LD: I was born in Key West; right.

ME: Where was your family--

LD: My father was born in Key West.

ME: Your father was from Key West also?

LD: ( ).

ME: Are they from Cuba? ( ) born in Cuba?

LD: On my father's side, they were from Key West. My mother was born in Cuba. Then my mother--. I don't know where my father met my mother, whether he went to Cuba or what. But they got married, and they came to Key West. And it was, it was two brothers and one sister. Well, two brothers--. One brother passed away; my sister passed away. My other brother lives in Dallas, Texas. So after I was about three months old, we moved back to Cuba again. And then I came--

ME: ( )?

LD: The whole family went to Cuba, and then we came back when I was about six or seven years old. ( ).

ME: Mm hmm. And where was your family from?

ED: My mother was born in Cuba. My father was Key West.

ME: Oh, your father was born in Key West also?

LD: [Chuckle]

ED: After ( ), my father was born in ( ).

ME: Uh-huh.

ED: ( ) my grandfather ( ) plantain ( ) pod.

ME: Oh, a plantain? Like the banana?

ED: Yeah.

LD: Yeah, a banana, but ( ). Plantain: P-L-A ( ).

ME: Well, I thought you were saying "platinum". You know- the metal?

LD: No, no, not the metal. Like a banana, but it's better.

ED: I used to fry them.

LD: I used to boil them.

ED: ( ).

ME: In the Canary Islands?

ED: ( ).

ME: Did you ever visit there?

ED: No.

ME: No?

ED: I remember, I remember the other day--

ME: ( ). You said you just found out.

ED: Yeah. ( ) have to do it. [Chuckle]

LD: So what more are you planning to do with ( )?

ME: What they will do is they will take the tape, and they will transcribe it. And they can make a copy. And we can send you over a copy, if you'd like to see it. I think you would enjoy it.

LD: Oh, that's--. ( ). [Recorder is turned off and then back on]

ME: ( ) you think of Ybor City now that they've redone it?

LD: Oh, that sounds nice. I have a son that lives on the east ( ), near the ( ). And he came out once, ( ). And we were over there one night, and ( ) sidewalk. It was quiet, but ( ). And it looks very nice. I was ( ) old houses there. I think they should ( ) those houses there ( ) back to Ybor City.

ME: Start with a ( ) residential area.

LD: Yeah!

ED: ( ) about Ybor City ( ) bar. ( ) bar.

ME: When I went down there, I went down there during the daytime, and there was absolutely nothing open. But on a ( ) at night, it's quite ( ).

ED: ( ) bar.

LD: The bars open at night.

ME: Right.

LD: At six o'clock, they open up. They got about 50 of them ( ) from north side, way down from one end to the other. A lot of people complain about that, but that's what brings the money there. The people come there to play and have a good time in bars. And, and they come from all over. They come from St. Petersburg, Clearwater, ( ), Plant City, Lakeland- they come from all over.

ME: Do you remember when those buildings were stores and restaurants and things like that? What were they before they were bars?

LD: They were nice stores- a ladies' store, shoe store. That's what it was. There was--. I never remember seeing a bar in Ybor City. Never. Now, there's a lot of old people that live on ( ).

ME: And people used to live in the apartments above the stores, didn't they?

LD: The summer; in the summer. ( ) pass away. And he never got married. He used to live on 16th Street and 7th Avenue, upstairs in a room. ( ). A lot of people were there. ( ) to pass away. ( ) open a cigar factory.

ME: Where did he eat?

LD: In the restaurant.

ME: He went downstairs to the restaurant to eat?

LD: The summer, ( ) talking about. I used to ( ). And he never got married. He had ( ).

ME: And he worked in a cigar factory, too?

LD: Cigar factory. He always took care of his father's money. My grandfather ( ).

ME: Are there any cigar factories still in operation down there?

LD: Yes, ma'am. The cigar factory that is operating now is Regensburg, on Columbus Drive and 16th Street. It's got a big clock on top.

ME: What's the name of it?

LD: Regensburg. I don't know how to spell. R-E-G-E-R-B-U-R-C --something like that-- Regensburg. ( )--.

ME: Do they make handmade cigars, or is it all machine?

LD: Huh?

ME: Is it all machine-made cigars?

LD: This is machine. They have no man-made, man-made cigars. Everything's machine-operated. Mm hmm.

ME: Do you think you could still make a cigar if you had the stuff?

ED: I loved my job. I don't ( ) very much. ( ) buy material to work. If you work, you work in the machine ( ) wasn't there. ( ) want to make money. ( ) stop the machine. ( ). I enjoyed my job; I enjoyed my job.

LD: But you still can do it.

ED: Oh, yeah. [Chuckle] Oh, yeah.

ME: Did she get along here when you were hand-rolling cigars? And I've seen pictures. They'd sit at these long tables. And did, did you chat back and forth, and was there a lot of friendship and friendliness with the other people?

ED: ( ). I had a ( ) looking for it to show it to you, of me making cigars.

ME: Oh, yeah?

ED: Yeah, I couldn't find it. It's around my house ( ).

ME: Well, if you find it, let me know, and I'll come and make a copy of it.

LD: It's her and another lady. Her name is ( ); that's her name. And her mother was Mrs. ( ), and it's like a label. They used to put that label inside the box of a cigar package. ( ) for years and years--

ED: The other day, I showed it to Doria. ( ).

LD: ( ) my granddaughter. ( ).

ED: I went to, I went to Miami ( ). I have pictures of that.

ME: And that was recently?

ED: That was--.

LD: Eight years ago.

ED: About, about ten years ago.

LD: ( ). What was that, in Chicago?

ED: No, Miami.

LD: Oh, Miami, yeah. That's why she looks so happy. ( ). [Laughter]

ME: She just made them; she didn't smoke them, right?

LD: No, she didn't smoke. I never smoked.

ME: You never smoked either?

LD: No.

ME: When I first moved down here, I worked for a cigar, for a cigar company. They did not make cigars; they distributed them. And no one in the company smoked cigars ( ). People were calling in: "Let me talk to your boss, because I'll bet he knows cigar ( )." [Pause] Now, which one is you? Are you the one sitting down?

ED: Yeah, sitting down. Yeah.

ME: And what do you, what do you call these boxes? I know there ( ) like a wooden box that you would--

ED: Like a ( ).

ME: Did you use that to determine what size it was going to be?

ED: Yeah.

LD: ( ). There's two pieces, and you put the cigars like that in the ( ). And you press it down, and that's where the cigars just ( ).

ED: ( ).

LD: Right.

ED: ( ) Presidents' Union.

ME: Now tell me about the union. What was that like?

ED: The union? Well, the union ( ), but ( ).

ME: Did you all ever go on strike?

ED: Huh?

ME: Did you ever go on strike?

ED: Oh, yeah.

ME: Really?

ED: Yeah. Big strike, big strike ( ).

ME: Tell me about it.

ED: I went on strike ( ).

LD: Well, you all want more money! You all went on strike ( )--.

ED: That was 19( ).

LD: ( ).

ME: And how long were you out on strike?

ED: Oh, about a month, a month. And then they start getting people to come back to work. I went--. They call me, but they told me to work as strike breaker ( ). I work as--. Then they fire me from the, the--. I was using ( ) material, ( ) work as a strike breaker.

ME: Mm hmm. So they finally settled it, and you went back ( )?

ED: ( ). I worked there--

LD: ( )

ED: --eighteen, nineteen years.

ME: I think that's the one I went to went to when I ( ).

ED: ( ) place I worked in.

LD: You know who owned that factory? Tino Martinez's grandfather- the baseball player Tino Martinez, that played first base for the New York Yankees. His grandfather.

ME: I thought his grandfather was ( ).

LD: ( ) Tino Martinez.

ME: Did you know Tino Martinez?

LD: Tino M--. No, Tino Martinez, ( ), his grandfather. ( ) used to be ( ). He sold it.

ME: Well, these are great pictures.

LD: Those are all the manufacturers.

ED: ( ) cigar factory.

ME: Now, are those the people that you worked with?

ED: Yes.

ME: Is that ( )?

ED: Yes, ma'am.

LD: ( ). [Laughter]

ME: Is that you?

LD: No, that isn't me there.

ME: You're not in it? ( ).

LD: Yeah, I got, I got to find out who that guy is. [Laughter]

ED: What guy?

ME: This guy.

ED: Oh, that's, that's ( ). [Laughter]

LD: ( ). [Chuckle] I was, I was working at the dog track at night, at that point.

ME: Oh, so you didn't go to the dinners?

LD: ( ) Saturday.

ED: ( ) union, wholesale, retail, ( )- something like that.

LD: ( ) union?

ED: Uh-huh. C.I.O.

LD: C.I.O.? Oh, of course. ( ) union.

ME: Yeah, I've heard of it before.

LD: Oh!

ME: Did the union pay your--, pay you while you were out on strike?

ED: No. Well, yeah. It did pay, but ( ) so much: about six dollars a week.

ME: Just a little bit?

ED: Yeah.

ME: Enough to get by?

ED: Yeah.

ME: [Pause] Well, those are great pictures--

ED: ( ) the union. I know the deal there ( ) 8th Avenue.

LD: 8th Avenue and 16th Street.

ED: 8th Avenue ( ). I don't think there would be any union if there are no cigars.

ME: No cigar makers ( ), nobody to join.

LD: ( ) union over there.

ED: ( ) to work. Somebody ( ) back to work.

LD: ( ). [Laughter]

ED: ( ) I remember, and ( ) a friend of mine. She looked at me in the glass ( ). [Laughter]

ME: And you used to know everybody on the street, didn't you?

ED: Right, right.

LD: Because it's getting older, our face is older. We--

ED: ( ) gave us twenty years ( ) cigar. ( )? No, I don't know; I can't ( ). Closed for the year- we'll be back, we'll be back after dinner. The union ( ). ( ).

ME: [Laugher] Right. Did they all look different ( )?

LD: ( ) anniversary.

ME: Oh wow. Wow.

LD: ( ) fifty-seven now, right? Fifty-five, fifty-six, ( ). We got married in '45.

ME: We got married at Christmas and there's al--, probably always a Christmas tree in the back of our anniversary pictures.

LD: ( ).

ED: We got four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

ME: Wow, that's such a ( ).

LD: ( ).

ME: She's beautiful.

LD: Thank you.

ME: Is she grad--, is she graduating?

LD: Actually, she's in twelfth now.

ME: She's a senior?

LD: Senior, yes. ( ) always went to Catholic school ( ).

ME: Well, that's a wonderful school. I know a lot about them.

LD: Yeah.

ME: Is she going go to college? Is she going to go to college?

LD: She wants to go to Florida State, but her mother says, "I want her to go over here- to the University of South Florida." But she wants to go to Florida State, so I don't know.

ED: That's expensive. We'll have to see ( ), food, ( ) very expensive school.

ME: I know, very expensive. I have a daughter who will be going to college in two years.

ED: In two years?

[END OF TAPE 1, SIDE B]

[END OF INTERVIEW]