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Home > What's New > Moments to Remember, or Forget?
Moments to Remember, or Forget?
Posted: Monday, February 17, 2003
By Michael Moretti 
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture with a cigar adds a few more. Our subscribers believe this, commemorating great smoking chapters of their lives in our Moments to Remember section of Cigar Aficionado magazine. So did my Great-Great Uncle Ignacious, so it seems.
Uncle Ignots (as he was called) and Great-Great Aunt Rosina are seen posing here in this photo taken in their hometown of Sucha (pronounced Sue-ka), Czechoslovakia, in 1935. It was recently dug out of the family archives by my grandmother, given to me, and it now resides on my desk at work. The brown sepia image, with its little card listing their names and the date of the photo, are all I know of them. I never met them, or even heard of them, before working at Cigar Aficionado, but this photo has made me curious. Seeing the picture every day, a story developed in my own mind about what was happening in it -- largely due to the cigar in Ignots' hand.
It seems to me that Rosina is about two steps away from attacking Ignacious. I don't know the context of the photo. It was most likely a special occasion, and according to my grandmother, who was present at the time the photo was taken, the special occasion was getting their picture taken. After all, in a typical provincial Slovakian village in the 1930s, cameras were pretty scarce. I know they were married already at the time. I know that Ingots appears very happy smoking his cigar, and I know Rosina looks very unhappy standing next to him. That's it.
Now, to be fair, one may have nothing to do with the other. The photographer could have made a snide remark to Rosina before snapping the shot, or Ignots may have questioned the reasoning behind her puffy dress, or worse yet, bought it for her. These things will go unsettled in the annals of family lore, but I believe Rosina's mood has something to do with him, or, more specifically, him and his cigar.
Perhaps Ignots refused to have this one special-occasion picture taken without his cigar. The cigar stands out in the photo, and no doubt he felt it was an object of affection which spoke of his character. As I look closely, he does seems to embrace it more than the fair Rosina, which could easily account for her seemingly foul mood.
Notice the photo was taken outside. Maybe Rosina wanted the special photo taken inside with her living room in the background but would not allow cigar smoking in the house, causing a row.
Hopefully, they patched it up afterwards. I never found out.
To all who can relate to Ignots and Rosina, this next cigar is for you. Be sure to take a picture.
Send your cigar photos to:
Moments to Remember
387 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
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