The history of Retnuh the Cigar Store Indian  from Hunter's Cigar Store in Beardstown, Illinois.

(This article was featured in the Illinoian Star Newspaper, Beardstown Illinois)

Hunter's Famous Wood Indian

   Retnuh the only 100 year old wooden Indian in Beardstown, stands in Hunter Cigar Store.

   Just exactly who carved Retnuh is still a mystery. The Indian was purchased used sometime after 1865, by a German Immigrant and cigar maker. That was the year Anton Greve, born in 1847 moved his cigar making trade to the United States.  Greve bought the Indian in St. Louis and placed the cigar-bearing native in front of his Beardstown Cigar Factory acquired in 1895.

   Retnuh stood waste deep in the floods of the 1920's and like most , was evacuated 1943. The story of the red man and the tobacco business to which he is loyal is much a part of Beardstown. 

   Retnuh is Hunter spelled backwards. Retnuh was purchased by Charles K. Hunter I in 1914 when he bought out Grev's cigar factory. The Greve factory was apparently just across the street from where Hunter Cigar Store was, and is now located. Retnuh had but Main Street to cross.

   At this point in history there were several cigar manufactures in Beardstown. Cigars were popular and large-scale industrial techniques didn't exist for their making. Union workers made cigars by hand and sold them in handcrafted wooden boxes.

   The old wooden Indian witnessed the decline of the cigar manufacturing business in Beardstown. Like so many small craftsmen, machines and capitalism replaced cigar makers.  The Hunter factory suffered this late.

   From 1914 till 1942 the current store housed a cigar factory manufacturing "Hunters Best Cigar" in 1914 Charles K. Hunter II, was born and a smaller "Hunter Best Junior" cigar began production shortly thereafter.   (Story continued click here to read more)