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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
MAY/JUNE 2015
Father’s Day 2015…
Now 115 Years Old
PUBLISHER’S LETTER
BY ed o’connor
Father’s Day turned 100 years old on June 20, 2010. Sono-
ra Smart Dodd, often referred to as the “Mother of Father’s
Day,” was 16 years old when her mother died in 1898,
leaving her father, William Jackson Smart, to raise Sonora
and her five younger brothers on a remote farm in eastern
Washington. In 1909, Sonora heard a Mother’s Day church
sermon inspiring her to propose that fathers receive equal
recognition, lending credence to the old saying, “Behind
every good man there’s a good woman.”
With the assistance of her pastor, the Spokane, Wash-
ington YMCA and the Ministerial Alliance, Sonora’s idea
became reality. The first Father’s Day was celebrated in
1910. Dodd suggested her father’s birthday, June 5, be es-
tablished as the day to honor all fathers, but to allow more
time to prepare the Alliance decided on the third Sunday
in June.
We dedicate this issue to fathers and to the women who
made the day possible.
No special occasion would be complete without a cel-
ebratory cigar. And while passing out cigars to all of you is
what we’d really like to do, logistically it’s just not possible.
So we’ve done the next best thing. Enjoy “Unforbidden
Fruit,” Renee Covino’s article on Cuban cigars appearing in
the March/April issue of
TBI
(p. 30) with comments by Dick
Dimeola, a premium cigar expert and long-time friend of
the cigar industry, Victor Vitale, Marshall Gray and other ci-
gar aficionados. Don’t have a hard copy? Your cigar article
is available to you on
tobonline.com.For those of us excited about the dynamic growth of the
electronic nicotine (c-cig and VTM) markets, be sure to
check out this issue’s Electric Alley column (p. 42) along
with our profile of the innovative vapor company PAX Labs
(p. 66). Finally, don’t miss Michael Gelfand’s Trench Market-
ing column on Milwaukee’s renowned Uhle Tobacco Com-
pany (p. 76).
Enjoy—and men, hug the ladies in thanks for originating
your special day!
Best to you and good selling,