Cigars came in boxes of 25!

Just spitballing here: Might just be the size box they have versus the size cigars they make.

I roll cigars. When I find a blend good enough to stash, I will store a batch in a cigar box and stuff the box in a giant coolidor to age. I get the boxes for a buck apiece from the local cigar store. I'll get cedar boxes that have a hinged lid with a clasp and a **** to seal the deal. I root round my shelf of boxes and grab one I like, then I see how many gars will fit. Right now, for instance, I'm boxing up a stash of coronas. One leaf Mata Fina, two leaves Vuelta Abajo seco, Dominican Olor binder, w/ Criollo wrapper, makes a gar about 5 1/2" x 43 rg. Nice little smoke with plenty volume, lasts about an hour & a half & up to two hours. I chose a nice little Nat Sherman Host Selection Hamilton box that I like. Those Nats came 5 1/2" x 42 rg, 25 to the box. I find I can fit 24 of mine in this box, four layers of six, if I stagger the layers a bit. I could jam 28 in there, four layers of seven, but they'd wind up slightly box pressed. The standard 20 would leave a gap either way. Some store bought boxes, you'll see a chunk of cedar to correct the count. So here's my point: Nat might order up, say, twenty thousand boxes of the precise size to hold robustos, but the box factory sends him slightly the wrong size. He punts. Or he might order 20k boxes to hold 20 robustos each, use 10k, and put the rest of his boxes to work on coronas. There's any number of things might go into it.

Division solves for price per in any case.

FX Smith's Sons still packs fifty to a box. Half-wheels and wheels used to be a thing; I never see them packed that way nowadays. I dunno that there's a standard. Topper has boxes of 30 -- dunno anyone else who does. Frequently, you'll see ads that look like a dynamite deal ... then you discover it's for boxes of ten. Here's an old framed label for Blue Ribbon cigars. FX've been making those for like 130 years. The label used to go round a modest wheel of cigars -- I dunno how many -- that were packed in cans like cookie tins, label pasted round it:



Two gars for 15 cents. Can't beat that.