In the first decade of the 20th century, the labels that graced cigar boxes were miniature works of art. Admired for the fine detail, superb design, and decorative flourishes, the labels encompassed a wide range of artistic vignettes. Among them were lovely ladies admiring boxes of such brands as First Blush and Madame Butterfly; portraits of Tom Mix and Sherlock Holmes; as well as illustrations of cowboys, sailors, gentlemen in evening wear, dogs, racehorses, and other images. This volume features 89 of these rare, full-color designs. Not only are they masterpieces of commercial art, they also lend themselves to a variety of art and craft applications. Commerical artists and designers will find this collection a superb sourcebook of royalty-free period graphics that can easily be reproduced on a color copier. Collagists and other craftspeople will want to add this book to their design libraries, while nostalgia enthusiasts will delight in the charms of advertising art from bygone days.

Beautiful paper images from cigar boxes are showcased including the finest examples produced by the stone chromolithographic method between 1860 and 1910. The rich historical past that surrounds cigar manufacturing, marketing and their mystique and contemporary anecdotes, poems, and other literary cigar whimsy to amuse and educate.

Admired for their fine detail and decorative flourishes, the labels that once adorned cigar boxes were masterpieces of early commercial art. The high-quality, royalty-free graphics in this CD-ROM and book set include 89 of these attractive designs, among them images of lovely ladies, cowboys, sailors, dogs, eagles, racehorses, and other miniature works of art.

The Art of the Cigar Label provides a brief history of the growth of interest in cigar labels as collector's items, and gives advice on identifying old labels, plus tips on values and collecting. Over four hundred full-colour labels are featured.

Here are 229 samples of decorative, old-fashioned graphic art that once decorated cigar boxes and luggage; fruit and vegetable crates; boxes of chocolates; bottles of wine, beer, and spirits; and other products.

A glimpse into a bygone era with some of the most beautiful and fascinating lithographed images ever printed on cigar box labels.

CIGAR BOX LITHOGRAPHS: The Inside Stories Uncovered is a thought-provoking production exposing its readership to more than 160 vintage cigar boxes manufactured during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most convey stunning litho- graphs that portray prominent historical figures. Such cigar boxes during the 19th century attracted a massive smoking cliental numbering in the millions.... While puffers more than one hundred years ago likely recognized the prominent personalities peering at them from the inside labels of these wooden cigar boxes, those same headlined names, today, are now essentially erased from memory. Lew Wallace (1827- 1905), portrayed in this stunning portrait label, is virtually a forgotten name today. World-famous during his day, he was not only a Major General during the Civil War but became more famous when he wrote what some consider to be the best-selling novel of the 19th century. His Ben Hur (see page 34), a novel that was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster winning a record eleven Oscars in 1959, was certainly the most read and the best-known book title during the 20th century, that is, until it was superseded by Gone with the Wind in the 1930s. By examining the cartouche to the left of this stunning label portrait, one detects Wallace’s role as a General during the Civil War, especially at the Battle of Shiloh. The cartouche to the right of his portrait details his writing studio in Crawfordsville, Indiana. This is where his most famous novel was written. Cigar boxes from the past often became an educational platform inadvertently recording and preserving history. To this day, this nearly 120-year old collectible cigar container whispers its provocative past, that is, providing one takes time out to lift its lid and peer at the lithographic image waiting to be re-discovered or uncovered.... Peer long enough and the box just might whisper its past to you.