The Authentic Remains of a CHURCHILL CIGAR

Description

Discovered among the estate papers of a member of Churchill’s secretarial staff, this carefully preserved cigar butt is wrapped in a small fragment of notepaper that bears the handwritten ink notation:
“Cigar smoked by Mr. Churchill on Jan. 30th, 1952 at a cabinet at No. 10 Downing St. the day after his return from USA.”
Churchill had just landed at Southampton aboard the Queen Mary following a three week visit to the United States, during which he had met extensively with President Truman on the subject of the Korean War, among other matters. On January 30, Churchill briefed the House of Commons about his “Anglo-American Conversations.” “I was led to cross the Atlantic by the conviction that … it was important for His Majesty’s new Government to establish intimate and easy relations with the President …” he told the Commons, and “to give the impression to the American people that we rejoice in their effort to defend the cause of world freedom against Communist aggression.” Certainly Churchill’s cabinet meeting that day must have touched on the same subject.

The cigar butt is 3 1/2-inches long and very much shows its age but is entirely intact. It is preserved in a sealed glass cigar tube (7 1/2-inches long) together with the original handwritten note.