Cigarettes, Cigars, Tobacco, Pipes

In this real photo postcard, a man hides among the leafy tobacco plants on a hazy summer day.

A stores (department, grocery, five and dime, etc.) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. A tobacconist poses among his wares in a cigar store, date and location unknown. One interesting aspect of this photo is how many different packages and advertisements for tobacco products are visible (mouse over the image above to see close-up views of the counter and wall behind the proprietor and the display case in front of him ). Some of the tobacco posters, placards, and packaging visible behind the counter include items for Red Star Plain Scraps Chewing and Smoking Tobacco ("pure tobacco never harmed anyone"), Murad the Turkish Cigarette, Town Talk, American Navy, Helmar Cigarettes, Our Principal, Quaker Boy, Bold, and cigarette packs for Camel and Lucky Strike. Gum and candy was available, too, with Beech-Nut Chewing Gum, Black Jack Chewing Gum, Schrafft's Chocolates, Hershey's candy bars, and Life Savers candies among those represented. Cigar brands in the boxes on the top shelf of the display case include Muriel, Rose-O-Cuba, Lord Clinton, Our Principal Senior, Lord Romeo, Summons, Londres, Golden Belle, Let-Er-Rip, and O.K. Among the tobacco products on the display case's bottom shelf are Sach's All-Right Plain Scrap, Red Man, Beech-Nut Chewing Tobacco, Master Workman Scrap, Tub Tobacco, and Picnic Twist.

Some of the tobacco posters, placards, and packaging visible behind the counter include items for Red Star Plain Scraps Chewing and Smoking Tobacco ("pure tobacco never harmed anyone"), Murad the Turkish Cigarette, Town Talk, American Navy, Helmar Cigarettes, Our Principal, Quaker Boy, Bold, and cigarette packs for Camel and Lucky Strike. Gum and candy was available, too, with Beech-Nut Chewing Gum, Black Jack Chewing Gum, Schrafft's Chocolates, Hershey's candy bars, and Life Savers candies among those represented. See also the full version of the photo.

Cigar brands in the boxes on the top shelf of the display case include Muriel, Rose-O-Cuba, Lord Clinton, Our Principal Senior, Lord Romeo, Summons, Londres, Golden Belle, Let-Er-Rip, and O.K. Among the tobacco products on the display case's bottom shelf are Sach's All-Right Plain Scrap, Red Man, Beech-Nut Chewing Tobacco, Master Workman Scrap, Tub Tobacco, and Picnic Twist. See also the full version of the photo.

Printed on the back: "This card is a genuine photograph, hand colored. Made in the United States." Perhaps this real photo postcard was intended as a birth announcement, since it used to be (or still is?) customary for fathers to hand out cigars to friends, relatives, and coworkers when a child was born. Otherwise, it seems rather strange to imagine a smiling infant passing out cigars like this.

"Sun-Ray Cigar. Pleasing to all. Mild and fragrant."

"Cyclone Twister. Looks crooked but smokes straight. Cigar, five cents."

"Perfecto Garcia & Bros., Tampa, Fla. Clear Havana Cigars. Made in 65 sizes."

"Consumers Cigar Box Company, Red Lion, Pa. Manufacturers of fancy and novelty boxes. Capacity 15,000 per day. 'If It's wooden boxes we make them.'"

"Susquehanna Trail. The right road to a good smoke. Mild, mellow cigar." As Wikipedia explains, "The Susquehanna Trail was an auto trail in the United States linking Washington, D.C., with Niagara Falls, New York. It passed through Baltimore, Maryland; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Williamsport, Pennsylvania; and Buffalo, New York." Although it's no longer an official designation, "Susquehanna Trail" is still widely used in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York as a name for roads, businesses, and places along the old route. Somewhere along the way, a tobacco company thought it would make a good name for a cigar as well.

George Washington as a "Hand Made American Citizen" on a cigar box label.

A sample cigar label printed by the Moehle Lithographic Company.

"First Rate. G. S. Harris Sons, Phila." Three cigar box labels--First Rate, Prime , and Professor Morse --printed by the lithographic firm of Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.

"Prime. G. S. Harris Sons, Phila." For two other cigar box labels printed by the lithographic firm of Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., see First Rate and Prime , and Professor Morse --printed by the

Printed on the back of this sample cigar box label: "Geo. S. Harris & Sons, Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. No. 4505. Prof. Morse, trade mark. $6.00 per 1000. 70 cts. per 100. Also furnished blank." For two additional cigar box labels printed by the same lithographic firm, see First Rate and Prime .

"Fidelity, M. H. Smaltz & Son. Invariable quality. Selected long filler. Imported Sumatra wrapper. S & S." A cigar box label for M. H. Smaltz & Son, a cigar manufacturer located in Womelsdorf, Pa., until 1960.

"First Pick. O. L. Schwencke, lith., N.Y." A cigar box label printed by O. L. Schwencke. Notice how a box featuring this label appears within the design of the label itself. This recursive picture-within-a-picture is called the Droste effect , which is named after the Droste cacao tin that featured an illustration of a nun holding the tin.