Selling Smoke
Selling Smoke

How Canadian Cigar Boxes Pitched Their Wares  1883-1935

Ours is Better

There were any number of strategies for showing that OUR cigar was THE cigar, better than anyone else's.

 Can't you just TASTE it?

The cigars on these labels were drawn large and inviting, to attract the eye and tempt the lips. Even without the Freudian overtones a modern sensibility might detect, these cigars are powerful icons: lit by rays of heavenly light, regally crowned, potent with pleasure.

Cigar box label : Lewis' L.L Superior  
Lewis' L.L Superior
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
T. J. Fair & Co., Limited, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2004.216.10 | D2005-17249
Cigar box label : On Hand  
On Hand
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
T. J. Fair & Co., Limited, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2004.122.15 | D2004-21008
Cigar box label : The Royal Burner  
The Royal Burner
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
T. J. Fair & Co., Limited, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2003.46.12 | S2003-3182
Cigar box label : New 5  
New 5
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
T. J. Fair & Co., Limited, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2004.38.54 | D2006-01803
Eddy Echenberg Collection
Cigar box label : Havana Twists   "Braided" cigars were called "culebras"—"snakes" in Spanish. In 19th century Cuba, manufacturers concerned with cigar pilfering allowed workers to make and smoke or take home three of these—one braid—a day. All non-twisted cigars in workers’ possession were regarded as stolen. Culebras were considered an exotic shape elsewhere in North America and made as a novelty cigar.
Havana Twists
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
T. J. Fair & Co., Limited, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2004.38.2 | D2004-19382
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