2-620-546 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Advertisement for Romeo y Julieta cigars. Romeo y Julieta is a well-known brand of Cuban cigars, first established in 1875 by Inocencio Alvarez and Mannin Garcia who took the name from Shakespeare's classic tragedy of the same name. The logo displays a number of gold medals awarded to the brand over the years of production. Four of these were granted to them between 1885 and 1900 at four universal expositions. However, the brand truly took off after 1903 when it was acquired by Jose Pepin Rodriguez Fernandez, former head of the Cabanas factory in Havana, and his firm, Rodríguez, Argüelles y Cia.