Exploding cigar Inc.

  

'In 1844, 23-year-old Heyum Lehmann, who changed his name to Henry Lehman,  the son of a Jewish cattle merchant, emigrated to the United States from Rimpar, Bavaria. 

 He settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where he opened a dry-goods store, "H. Lehman". 

In 1847, following the arrival of his brother Emanuel Lehman, the firm became "H. Lehman and Bro." 

 With the arrival of their youngest brother, Mayer Lehman, in 1850, the firm changed its name again and "Lehman Brothers" was founded. " 

'Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank 

 in the United States  

(behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merrill Lynch), with about 25,000 employees worldwide" 

"Defunct, September 15, 2008; 16 years ago

 Lehman's bankruptcy filing was the largest in US history,  

beating the previous record holder Enron, 

  and is thought to have played a major role in the unfolding of the 2007–2008 financial crisis. The market collapse also gave support to the "too big to fail" doctrine." 

Lehman became a member of the Coffee Exchange as early as 1883 and finally the New York Stock Exchange in 1887. In 1899, it underwrote its first public offering, the preferred and common stock of the International Steam Pump Company.

'Despite the offering of International Steam, the firm's real shift from being a commodities house to a house of issue did not begin until 1906. 

 In that year, under Emanuel's son Philip Lehman, the firm partnered with Goldman, Sachs & Co.,to bring the  

"An exploding cigar is a variety of cigar that explodes shortly after being lit. Such cigars are normally packed with a minute chemical explosive charge near the lighting end or with a non-chemical device that ruptures the cigar when exposed to heat. 

 Also known as "loaded cigars," the customary intended purpose of exploding cigars is as a practical joke, rather than to cause lasting physical harm to the smoker of the cigar.  

Nevertheless, the high risk of unintended injuries from their use caused a decline in their manufacture and sale."

 General Cigar Co.  (General Cigar Company is the largest manufacturer of premium cigars in the world. )

to market, followed closely by  

Sears, Roebuck and Company. 

Among these were F.W. Woolworth Company, 

May Department Stores Company,  

Gimbel Brothers, Inc.,   (The company is known for creating the oldest Thanksgiving parade, the Gimbels Thanksgiving Day Parade, originating in 1920 in Philadelphia. Gimbels was also considered the chief rival of Macy's with their feud popularized in American culture. As of 1930, Gimbels had grown to 20 stores, whose sales revenue made it the largest department store chain in the world) 

 R.H. Macy & Company, 

The Studebaker Corporation. (Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868[5] as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.)

 the B.F. Goodrich Co. 

and Endicott Johnson Corporation..

(The company was responsible for nearly all of the shoe and footwear for the United States Army during World War I and World War II.

At its peak, E-J was one of the largest shoe manufacturers in the U.S., with retail outlets in over 30 states.)"

" 

"In the 1930s, Lehman underwrote the initial public offering of the first television manufacturer, DuMont Laboratories, and helped fund the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). 

 It also helped finance the rapidly growing oil industry, including the companies Halliburton and Kerr-McGee. 

 In the 1950s, Lehman underwrote the IPO of Digital Equipment Corporation. Later, it arranged the acquisition of Digital by Compaq." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehman_Brothers

 

"The company directly dealt with cotton farmers. Lehman, particularly, presented himself as a friend to the farmers, who believed that the banks only lend money to merchants and middlemen. 

 He bartered with skills that he learned from dealing with farmers in the Bavarian countryside and accepted cotton as payment for borrowed money.  Within a few years, this became the major part of their firm" 

 

___ 

"With its arrival in New York, Gimbels prospered, and soon became the primary rival to the leading Herald Square retailer, Macy's, whose flagship store was located a block north.  

This rivalry entered into the American popular argot as "Does Macy's tell Gimbels?",  

an idiom used to brush off any query about matters the speaker didn't wish to divulge.  

To distinguish itself from Herald Square neighbors, Gimbels' advertising promised more: 

"Select, don't settle. " 

"1923, Saks & Co. merged with Gimbel Brothers, Inc., which was owned by a cousin of Horace Saks,[16] Bernard Gimbel, operating as a separate autonomous subsidiary. " 

"Although far rarer than their prank cousins, the use of exploding cigars as a means to kill or attempt to kill targets in real life has been claimed, and is well represented as a fictional plot device.  

The most famous case concerning the intentionally deadly variety was an alleged plot by the CIA in the 1960s to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro.  

Notable real-life incidents involving the non-lethal variety include an exploding cigar purportedly given by Ulysses S. Grant to an acquaintance and  

a dust-up between Turkish military officers and Ernest Hemingway after he pranked one of them with an exploding cigar."