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Brewers and Cigar
Makers
Lansing Brewing Company
 Although national brands were beginning to
appear before the turn of the century, most Michigan beer came from local breweries.
Lansing Brewing Company, formed in 1898, was larger than earlier beer-making enterprises
in the city. Its serving trays, premiums and labels illustrate the increasing importance
of advertising. Amber Cream appears to have been Lansing Brewing Company’s most
popular brand, although it produced Hoffbrau, Bohemian and Lager beers as well.
Brewing and bottling companies in 1897 Lansing included:
- Emil R. Arndt, rear 300 Shiawassee e.
- Buckeye Brewing Co. (agent), 300 Shiawassee e.
- City Bottling Works, 111 Allegan e.
- Lansing Brewing Co., n w corner Clinton and Turner
- Henry Russell, 111 Allegan e.
- John J. Schwartz, 213 Shiawassee e.
- Sullivan & Co., Capitol Bottling Works (soft drinks), 300 Shiawassee e.
Cigar Makers
Late-19th-century cigar making could be a very small operation or a larger,
industrial-scale plant. The Queen Bee Cigar Company, owned by John F. Betz and Edward N.
Reitz, typified the small shop. It employed six people in 1897, with a monthly payroll of
$312. The only large-scale cigar maker in Lansing at this time was the Hammell Cigar
Company, where 75 men and women worked in a three-story brick factory.
Actual cigar-making methods were similar at both large and small establishments. Workers
at both companies probably used cigar molds like these to speed the shaping of their
cigars. Only the highest grade cigars were entirely hand rolled.
Cigar and cigar box manufacturers in 1897 Lansing included:
Cigar Makers
- Joseph Beck, 110 Washington Ave. n.
- Harry Behrendt, 504 Michigan Ave. e.
- Capital City Cigar Co., 401 Washington Ave. n.
- Creole Cigar Co., 716 Turner
- Henry H. Freedman, Cigars, Pipes and Smokers' Articles, 237 Washington Ave. s.
- Hammell Cigar Co. (James Hamell, P. J. Hammell), 704-706 Kalamazoo e.
- Thos. Paltridge, 502 Kalamazoo e.
- C. P. Lesher & Son, 106 Michigan Ave. e.
- Queen Bee Cigar Co. (John F. Betz and Edward W. Reitz, proprs.), 223 Washington Ave. n.
Cigar Box Makers
- Eureka Cigar Box Co., 1120 Washington Ave. s.
- Norton & Depue (S. J. Norton, Wm. Depue), 403 Washington Ave. n.
City Hall cigar box cover and cover interior.
Cigar Sales
Born in Lansing in 1871, Otto Ziegler began selling cigars at the age of sixteen. By
1897, when he was 26, he had a shop in the heart of the newer business district at 206 S.
Washington. He advertised to the entire community in both German and English. He also
enjoyed singing with his fellow German-Americans in the Liederkranz Society.
Cigars were sold at newsstands and at stores that featured other tobacco products,
smokers' needs and liquors. Cigar vendors in 1897 Lansing included:
- Davis & Whitcomb, Wines, Liquors and Cigars, 116 Michigan Ave. e.
- Hugo R. Delfs, Cigars and Tobaccos, 204 Washington Ave. n.
- Louis A. Driscoll, Cigars and News Stand, 100 Washington Ave. n.
- H. H. Freedman, Cigars, Pipes and Smokers' Articles, 137 Washington Ave. s.
- Hotel Downey Cigar Stand (C. P. & O. C. Downey, proprs.), 300 Washington Ave. s.
- Hudson House Cigar Store (Mitchell Sternfield, propr.), Hudson House
- Lester S. Hudson, Wines, Liquors and Cigars, 205 Washington Ave. s.
- Henry Moore, Pipes, Cigars and Tobacco, 117 Michigan Ave. w.
- Frederick Vollmer, Wines, Liquors and Cigars, 709 Turner
- Otto Ziegler, Wholesale Cigars and Tobacco, 206 Washington Ave. s.
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