Cigar City Magazine
  • HOME
  • STORIES
  • ABOUT
  • Contact
  • Tampa Mafia
  • Tampa Mafia Tours

history of  TAMPA

REDISCOVER. REMEMBER. RELIVE.

ABISPO VERDI: THE GREEN MOSQUITO

9/1/2007

0 Comments

 
Picture
During the 1940s, Tampa was embroiled in political corruption. Organized crime and political patronage were rampant. So, with the aid of a few close friends, Albert Knapp began publishing an underground newspaper. The mimeographed paper featured open letters mysteriously signed "Abispo Verdi" in a squiggly hand. Knapp certified each letter using a green stamp pad as "official" with the impression of an anopheles mosquito poised to strike. Albert selected the name Abispo Verdi to mimic the popular radio show, The Green Hornet. He wrote his manifestos in a broken English dialect using Spanish and Italian words that confused grammar and spelling. Each manifesto focused on a particular local scandal and illuminated dirty tricks and chicanery, often in verse and always in ingenuous and humorous terms, with names changed slightly: Raul became Baul (meaning footlocker); Spoto became Spots; Spicola became SpiCocaCola.  

Read More
0 Comments

THE BIRTH OF MAMA GUAVA: HOW A GROUP OF LOCAL ARTISTS CREATED A LEGEND

9/1/2007

0 Comments

 
Picture
Kathi Gnau as Mama Guava with Papa Guava Steve Otto and his son.
For many people, the history of Ybor City ends after the first few decades of the twentieth century, the cigar-making community's golden era. Following a series of devastating changes–the rise of mechanization and the decline of the hand-rolled cigar industry, World War II, government-driven urban renewal, and the separation of the district from downtown and south Tampa by an elevated highway and toll road–the once-vibrant community gradually emptied of residents and businesses. Stalwarts like the Columbia Restaurant continued, but Ybor grew to resemble a ghost town mostly until a new form of life filtered in. 

Read More
0 Comments

PLAYING THE LATIN NAME GAME

9/1/2007

0 Comments

 
Manny Leto, previous Editor-in-Chief of Cigar City Magazine.
Collectively, we're Latins. Ybor City Latins. West Tampa Latins. The Latin Community. We were here first. That's the deal. Newer immigrants–Dominicans, Mexicans, South and Central Americans–are arriving here daily, making Tampa one of the most diverse cities in the United States. 

Read More
0 Comments

VIVA LA VERBENA! TAMPA’S ORIGINAL CIGAR FESTIVAL

9/1/2007

0 Comments

 
Picture
By 1939, Tampa’s cigar industry was clearly in trouble. Between 1929 and 1939, 17 factories closed, and Tampa’s cigar manufacturers employed about 5,000 fewer people than they did ten years earlier. A 1939 Tampa Times article cited “less than 20 plants which could be called ‘major.’” But in 1935, none of that mattered. In 1935, what mattered was the Cigar Industry Golden Jubilee. Over four days, the citizens of Tampa were invited to revere the industry that made the town famous. 

Read More
0 Comments

    Archives

    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2011
    September 2009
    July 2009
    March 2009
    January 2009
    November 2008
    July 2008
    March 2008
    January 2008
    November 2007
    September 2007
    July 2007
    May 2007
    March 2007
    January 2007
    November 2006
    September 2006
    July 2006
    May 2006
    March 2006
    January 2006
    November 2005
    January 2005
    January 2004

    Categories

    All
    Andy Huse
    Celebrities
    Cesar Brioso
    Cigar Industry
    Downtown Tampa
    El Lector
    Food
    Gail Ellis
    Historical Events
    Jack Fernandez
    Lisa Figueredo
    Manny Leto
    Marilyn Figueredo
    Maureen J. Patrick
    Megan Voeller
    Paul Guzzo
    Tampa Baseball
    Tampa Mafia
    Tampa Neighborhoods
    Tampa People
    Tampa Sports
    Tampa's Social Clubs
    Tampa Theatre
    Wes Singletary
    West Tampa
    Ybor City

    RSS Feed

 © 2021 Cigar City Magazine. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • HOME
  • STORIES
  • ABOUT
  • Contact
  • Tampa Mafia
  • Tampa Mafia Tours