Optimo cigar label for A. Santaella Cigar Company featuring Sr. Antonio Santaella, 1900. Antonio Santaella opened cigar factories in New York in 1889, in Key West a few years later and in Tampa in 1905. His factories distributed their cigars in Chicago, the Mississippi Valley, the West, and as a publicity stunt shipped a carload of their cigars to Nome, Alaska. The company’s leading label was “Optimo” meaning “the very best.” Source: University of South Florida Special Collections

Optimo cigar label for A. Santaella Cigar Company featuring Sr. Antonio Santaella, 1900.

Antonio Santaella opened cigar factories in New York in 1889, in Key West a few years later and in Tampa in 1905. His factories distributed their cigars in Chicago, the Mississippi Valley, the West, and as a publicity stunt shipped a carload of their cigars to Nome, Alaska. The company’s leading label was “Optimo” meaning “the very best.”

Source: University of South Florida Special Collections