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Tabacos Brasileiros Photos (1977)

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deluxestogie

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Tabacos Brasileiros 1977 Photos

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During the summer of 1977, I requested information from a number of cigar tobacco manufacturers throughout the world. Most responded with a cigar shape chart and a price list. The manager of Tabacos Brasileiros Ltda. in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil graciously sent me ten 8"x10" photos that he shot specifically in response to my request. They have been tucked away in a box for the past 38 years. I finally located them again last week. Each has now been scanned into digital format, and compiled onto a CD. Each original photo had a pencil inscribed caption on the reverse.

I've included the cover envelope, to document their provenance.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104717_envelopeFromBrazil_600.jpg


TobacosBrasileiros1977_104026_plantationSmallFarmer_600.jpg

Plantation of a small tobacco farmer.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_103540_farmWithFlueCureAndAirCureBarns_800.jpg

Farm with a flue-curing barn [tall building] and an air-curing barn [to right].

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104138_deliveryToFactory_800.jpg

Delivery to the factory.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104353_buildingFermentationPile_600.jpg

Building a fermentation pile.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_103813_fermentationPiles_800.jpg

Fermentation piles.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_103704_temperatureChecking_600.jpg

Temperature checking. [Note the thermocouple wire in his hand, and the openings to tubes for inserting the probe.]

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104249_tempCheckedRecordedDaily_800.jpg

Temperatures are checked and recorded daily.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_103918_gradingAfterFermentation_600.jpg

Grading after fermentation.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104502_packingGradedTobacco_800.jpg

Packing graded tobacco.

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104609_readyPackedBale_800.jpg

Ready packed bale.

Bob
 

LewZephyr

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Wow, that's pretty cool of him to respond with that personal touch.
I love the feel of black and white photography.

Thanks for sharing.
 

waikikigun

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That's brilliant, thanks for posting those.

I was living 1/2 away from you at the time, on College Ave....
 

waikikigun

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Oh, yes, I remember you standing out front of the Rockridge BART station...
 

deluxestogie

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Hasse SWE noted his surprise that these photos were as recent as 1977. That caused me to question my long-held assumptions about the date at which the photos (which I was sent in 1977) were actually taken.

The shiny truck shown in one photo is a 1956 Ford. It does seem to show very little age, but my own 1995 sedan (now ~20 years old) still has a similar shine. I researched men's hat styles for the period, and hats shown are similar in fashion to those popular in the US in the late 1960s. That is still compatible with their being worn by low-wage workers in Brazil in the 1970s.

Today, it occurred to me that the daily temperature chart shown in one photo might include a date. That would be definitive. I went back to the high resolution, digital image, and examined the chart at full magnification. Yup! There are many sequential dates (day-month-year format).

TobacosBrasileiros1977_104249_tempCheckedRecordedDaily_closeup245.jpg


So, my assumption that the photos were taken just for me, in response to my request, is incorrect. At least some, if not all, of the photos can be dated to November, 1967--ten years earlier than I had understood them to be.

That would make them 48 year old photos as I write this.

Of note also are the recorded temperatures within the pile: up to 43ºC, or ~109ºF. The middle column records ambient temperature.

Bob
 

dvick003

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Funny enough, I thought the same thing as Hasse SWE. The clothes the women were wearing definitely did not appear to be late 70's style to me. But I am just a young whipper-snapper at 28 so I wasn't gonna say anything...
 

deluxestogie

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The clothes the women were wearing definitely did not appear to be late 70's style to me.
Low-wage workers in most parts of the world seldom wear the latest fashions to work, if they own them at all. To my 29 year old eyes in 1977, the clothing of both the men and the women in these photos did not seem anachronistic.

Bob

EDIT: Many of the long and short sleeve t-shirts that I wear to work in my garden on a daily basis are 20+ years old.
 

dvick003

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Well, I am glad that I did not say anything otherwise I would sound like an idiot. Oh wait, I did... I really enjoyed the pictures though. I wish I had enough tobacco to build a pilone like that but it would take about 300 years for me to grow that much.
 
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