This is the first page of one of my most prized collectibles: a child's writing booklet filled with 330 cigar labels all collected by some enterprising youngster named Maurice Reardon. Maurice thought enough of his project to even sign and date it: October 8, 1899. He even includes his address in San Francisco. Based on how they are organized, he obviously collected many of them prior to this, and the process of affixing them in the booklet commenced on the noted date. Many of these old labels are beautiful and ornate, others rather odd and interesting. Historical figures were popular on labels back then as this first pages attests: names include a number of now obscure souls who were obviously somebody in their day. Names like Roseberry, Selinda, Admiral Sampson, Duke of Sunderland, James Lick, Chauncey Depew, General King, and Madge Lessing. A few are more famous on this page including William Penn and Richelieu (of Cardinal fame--Roman Catholic, that is, not the baseball team). Also in the oddity category is one brand called Elk's Bouquet, which must surely have ranked up there with today's Bad Frogs. Anyway, I'll include a few more of these signposts to the past in the days ahead. It's always worth keeping in mind when we light up that our hobby has a long and interesting tradition behind it.
