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.

Very nice. So how did you aquire such a find.

Very cool!

That is simply awesome! What a great piece of Americana. Definitely a keepsake for a cigar lover.....

Give you 5 OpusX 'XXX' for it!....plus 3 Camacho Diploma?....uhhh....and......1 Bucanero Full Sail...final offer....

Very tempting offer, JD. But this is one original I couldn't part with--even for the best of the best. I can't help feeling a sort of kinship with the lad Maurice, thinking of him scouring the streets of San Francisco daily and picking up his treasures. I actually got this item several years ago from a collectibles dealer I was buying from at the time. I think I paid $80 for it, which, when you see some more pictures that I will post, I'm sure you will all agree was a steal.

I'll also post some pictures of a few of the large, vintage cigar labels I've acquired. They are truly works of art.

You know what's most amazing about these old items is how much time and artistry went into creating such insignificant items as cigar bands. Back then, especially, a diversity of cigar bands was a way of gaining more market share. Often the same cigar would sport countless variant bands. The same thing probably happens now, of course, but it was a craze back in the 1800's.

For those of you interested in collecting old cigar bands, there are a number of dealers on eBay, and they can be had at very reasonable rates, especially those from the early 20th century.

That is one nice looking collectable that would create lots of conversation! How many of todays brands are in the book? Partagas, Romeo y Julieta, Henry Clay etc?

Great book and I would not trade even for a temptation like the one offered!!!!

Charlie

Just testing you gerber and no, I wouldn't part with that for any number of cigars. Definitely something to cherish.

Awesome.

Yup..beautiful to say the least. Be sure to continue to post more pages. X

Charlie, oddly enough there are very few brands in this collection that we would recognize today, even though a number of current names existed back then. I think this is due more to the sheer number of different brands (and bands) available back then, which dwarfs the variety available today.

To make the comparison a bit more vivid, consider this statistic from the Library of Universal Knowledge (published 1880--a great 15 volume historical source that is also a prized collectible of mine): in 1879 total US production of tobacco was 391,278,350 pounds! (which also included pipe tobacco and snuff). And this is just US production. Given the smaller population back then, think how ubiquitous cigars and related products must have been back then.

More interesting pics and factoids to come later.