InStone, Inc. has been serving vintage cigar label art collectors for more than 10 years. We believe in building long-term relationships with our clients and realize you have a large  investment in your art…so we’re here to make sure you have the best experience possible as you build and enjoy your collection.

Cigar label art has been collected for well over a hundred years. These colorful mini masterpieces are the advertising art designed to decorate cigar boxes and entice buyers into choosing a particular brand. At the turn of the 20th century, cigars were all the rage, so artwork had to really stand out to be noticed among the thousands of other brands.

Originally, labels were found in old warehouses, salesmen sample books, Victorian scrapbooks and other caches. No more than a couple thousand of the most common labels have been found; while some labels exist in higher quantities, it’s more typical to find only one or two of each label. This makes cigar label art collecting an exciting challenge and offers you the opportunity to have some possibly unique labels in your collection.

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Pierre Laclede - Founder of St. Louis, Missouri


















Little is known of Pierre Laclede Liguest’s personal history, other than the fact that he was a native of France, and a partner in the commercial house of Maxent, Laclede & Company of New Orleans, for some years prior to his adventure to upper Louisiana in 1763-64. Nor have we much to relate concerning him during the 14 years of his residence in his “village of St. Louis,” as whatever documents there might have been in his or his family’s possession at the time of his death in 1778, that might have enlightened us have not survived.

Any information about Laclede passed on to Auguste Choteau, his principal business companion and clerk during these 14 years (surviving him for more than 50 years, and succeeding him in the title of founder of St. Louis, having witnessed the erection of its first house). No documents have been found to this day, either in the possession of the last survivor of Choteau’s son, still living in St. Louis, or the numerous descendants of Laclede throughout Missouri. Consequently, whatever we may have to say of Laclede is derived mainly from the meager facts concerning him that are found in the archives, etc., and from tradition.

Having completed the arrangements for his voyage to the upper country, Laclede sailed from New Orleans on his barge, with his family and merchandise for his Indian trade, on  August 3, 1763, and arrived at Fort Chartres, some 20 miles above Ste. Genevieve, three months later on November 3. In leaving New Orleans, he had contemplated landing at Ste. Genevieve, the only settlement at that time on the west bank of the river in the upper country. Arriving there and finding no place in which to store goods for the winter, the village being some two miles back from the river, he followed the suggestion of the commandant at that post and proceeded on to Fort Chartres, where he was kindly welcomed by Commandant M. Neyon de Viliers. He landed his goods and prepared to spend the winter, in the course of which he rode on horseback with a small party to Cabokia, the uppermost village and settlement. He crossed to the west side, explored the country to the mouth of the Missouri, and up the stream for some distance before selecting the spot for the location of his trading post, marking it by blazing the trees, and returning to Fort Chartres to await the spring opening of the river.

It was while spending the winter at Fort Chartres that news reached there of the cession of that side of the country to Great Britain, and many inhabitants decided to leave rather than become subjects of that power. This suggested to Laclede the idea of laying out a village around his contemplated trading post, and inducing them to come over to the west side and settle themselves around him. It’s evident, that had the east side remained under the subjection of France, few of those who did come over would have. Most were natives of the soil where their fathers had been established for a period of 80 years; they lived in comfort and ease and would never have dreamed of abandoning their homes simply for the purpose of crossing to the west side and in a measure begin life anew.

The fact that St. Louis sprung up into a village in the brief span of a year or two was the effect of cession of the east side to England. Otherwise, it would in all probability have been just a trading post, with perhaps a few families scattered around it for the next 40 years.

Laclede’s residence of 14 years in the village of his projection was mainly devoted to the prosecution of business affairs. On his return from a voyage to New Orleans, in the spring of 1778, he died on his boat, near the mouth of the Arkansas River, on June 20, and was interred in the wilderness there.

This Laclede Proof-Inner label is among the NEW items up on our site. Please take a look at:
NEW LABELS

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/laclede.htm

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