a good five-cent cigar

a good five-cent cigar

Something that is well or reasonably priced. We need a good five-cent cigar, not more of these ridiculously overpriced items.
See also: cigar, good
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a good five-cent cigar

A sensibly affordable item. The remark “What this country needs is a good five-cent cigar” was popularized by Thomas Riley Marshall, vice president of the United States under Woodrow Wilson. In one account, he made the remark while presiding in the Senate after he heard a succession of senators enumerate what was lacking in the United States. The remark, which most likely originated with a 19th-century humorist named Kin Hubbard, was appropriated by several generations of Americans to complain obliquely about overpriced items of any sort.
See also: cigar, good
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
See also:
  • cigar
  • be as good as new
  • as good as it gets
  • (one) (has) never had it so good
  • (as) good as new
  • as good as new
  • come up to (one's) expectations
  • come up to expectations
  • be good for (someone or something)
  • be good for something
References in periodicals archive
Does this country still need a good five-cent cigar? Maybe, but what smokers are getting usually starts at a buck and goes up, way up, from there.