Daniel Blumenthal of Villazon Cigars

(northjersey.com) ... Following his discharge in 1945, Mr. Blumenthal followed in the footsteps of his father, opening his first cigar store, Daniel's Cigars, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan at West 86th Street and Broadway with $1,200 in his pocket.
"He was the only one who carried dark cigars," said his wife. "His customers were Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and all the politicians. He supplied the cigars to Burl Ives [in the stage and film version] for 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.' Ernie Kovacs even put him on television" when he filled in as host of "The Tonight Show."
Mr. Blumenthal had foreseen the embargo in Cuba in the early 1960s and began gathering up Cuban cigars before Castro took control of the island. Continued