Smokers' World
The Cigar Goddess
Tobacco was among many new plants encountered by the first Europeans to the Americas. Artists sometimes personified the New World's abundance as a woman in classical garb-perhaps the goddess of agriculture or the harvest-seated amidst copious foodstuffs such as corn, beans, and potatoes.
Cigar manufacturers adapted this iconography for their labels: they seated the goddess on a throne of cigar boxes, her cornucopia overflowing with "perfectos," her outstretched hand offering an open box of cigars.
Even without a goddess, cigars were promoted, along with food and wine, as a component of the good life.
The Merchant
Trimmed nailed wood box (50) Factory 11 Port 24-E Series C F.H. or J.G. Ward, Stratford, Ont. CMC 2003.46.6 | S2003-3163 |
||
The Royal George
Trimmed nailed wood box (25) Factory 21 IRD 17 Series of 1897 Isaac Harris or E. Youngheart, Montreal, Que. CMC 2003.46.1 | S2003-3148 |
||
La Preferencia
Trimmed nailed wood box (50) Factory 6 Port 10-D Series C General Cigar Co., Montreal Que. CMC F-9176 | D2002-013753 |
||
Some of the cigars pictured in these labels are bundled as they were in the days before governments made cigar box packaging mandatory (see Anatomy of a Cigar Box). The bundles convey the notion of old fashioned, easy-going plenty. La Rosa Especial
Trimmed nailed wood box (50) Factory 21 IRD 17 Series of 1897 Likely E. Youngheart, Montreal, Que. CMC 2003.46.88 | S2004-250 |
||
Tutti Frutti
Trimmed nailed wood box (50) Factory 1 IRD 32 Series of 1897 Likely A.H. Brener, London, Ont. CMC 2005.139.13 | D2005-19881 |
||
Fair Exchange
Trimmed nailed wood box (50) Factory 4 IRD 30 Series of 1897 Likely F.L. Flynn., Hamilton, Ont. CMC 2004.38.19 | D2006-01794 |
||
T O P |