Why are cigars given out when babies are born?

It is, however, the cigar my father passed out on the fateful day back in February of 1979 when I was born. It's a familiar tradition, of course: A child enters the world and the new father runs around the waiting room slinging “It's a boy!” cigars to every man; he returns to work the next day with a box of “It's a girl! read more

Cigars are not customary after the birth of a baby -- for a definition of "custom" that involves a large segment of humankind. Cigars, because they can be expensive and they can reward the brain through the mechanism of addiction, can be something that smokers save for special occasions. read more

Traditionally, cigars have been handed out after the birth of a child, and is believed to have stemmed from the birth of a son, at which point fathers handed out cigars, which were both rare and expensive, in celebration of the child's birth. read more

If you’re a cigar aficionado, it may be hard to resist ducking out of the hospital to get a little bit of much-needed reflection and relaxation while the nurses and doctors do their thing and your wife passes out from exhaustion (or drugs). read more