Monday, May 20, 2024
In his 50 professional years, Tumbleweed has interviewed some true Texas characters and assembled the largest private collection of oral history in the United States. He writes a syndicated weekly newspaper column and teaches broadcasting at the university level.
When you enter Roy Ward’s cigar store in Hico, the bell rings.
“The name of the store is The Wooden Indian Cigar Shop,” says Roy. “We started out just selling premium handmade, hand rolled cigars from Central America. That was four years ago.”
He also sells two brands of coffee: Arbuckle and Whiskey Morning. Whiskey Morning is bourbon-flavored and headquartered near Granbury. It is the result of a TCU class project. Arbuckle is an old brand known as the coffee that won the west.
“I have two or three customers who have chuck wagons. They’ve learned that many of the chuck wagon cooks carried Arbuckle coffee. It’s well known in the western community. The Arbuckle brothers started shipping coffee by the hundred-pound bags to ranches in Texas. Out on the trail, the chuck wagon cooks couldn’t get the cowboys to help grind the beans. So, the Arbuckles came up with this ingenious idea of putting peppermint throughout the bag. So, when the cooks would need help, they’d holler out ‘who wants the sweet?’ The cowboys would line up to help grind the beans so they could have peppermint. Arbuckle still puts a peppermint stick in each bag of coffee.”
In addition to cigars and coffee, Roy sells other items like Man Cave Candles.
“I found these in a cigar magazine. They are candles primarily made for men to use in their shops, their barns, their cigar rooms, and they are scented with craft beers, some with bourbon and some with coffee.”
But mostly he sells cigars.
“They are all tobacco, no additives, no filters, or anything like that. We have some Cohibas that are rolled in Honduras. We have Montecristo, Oliva, Macanudo, and Padilla. Those are some of the bigger brands that we carry. Then we have four Texas brands: Micallef, Bobalu, Southern Draw and San Jacinto. Those cigars are rolled in Nicaragua and neighboring countries. Our price range is from $5 up to $30. About 60% of our business is local. The other 40% is from the metroplex, Austin, San Antonio and the petroplex. I’ve got a customer coming tomorrow from Brownwood. He likes a particular cigar that he can only find here.”
Rou started smoking cigars in college.
“I thought that’s such a neat looking thing. A cousin of mine and I first started smoking cigars during our college days. Cigar smokers don’t inhale. If you inhale, you’re going to be lying on the floor.”
Before opening his cigar store, Roy was a financial advisor and regional head of a life insurance company. In the late 1980s, he lived in Lubbock and was a Rotary District Governor. He says selling cigars is extremely enjoyable and he gets to meet lots of interesting people. Many of his customers are doctors.
