2010 NEWS
HAPPY 4th of JULY! July 2, 2010
While the best artists of the day drew from many areas of interest for ideas to create their cigar label drawings, the patriotic theme was a recurring favorite. America, still in its infancy held fast to its beliefs of pride and liberty for all! Cigar label art has depicted America's flamboyant history with its thousands of labels depicting everything from America's first president (and all that followed), the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, The American Revolutionary War, etc. Great heroes, Lady Liberty, Uncle Sam and the like have adorned cigar boxes throughout the years. Patriotic themes have always been a favorite because we are still very passionate about our country and know that we are lucky to have had men of great foresight and vision who blazed the trails to create this great country of ours!
Recently, I had a chance to visit Mt. Vernon in Virginia. Since our trip was mainly to see Washington D.C., we weren't really planning on going to Mt. Vernon. But I'm so glad that we did! If you ever have a chance to go there, don't miss it! It is truly amazing to be there and learn about Washington's struggles as he and the many other leaders of that period laid the foundation of what they envisioned America to be.
In researching cigar label art, I have been given a history lesson, learning about the heroes of the various wars in America's past-about the important people who helped form our great nation, about the men who bore the enormous responsibility of being the President of the United States. Indeed, that is one of the reasons that make cigar labels so special as a collectible, they are so steeped in history. While their first enticement is probably the "look" of the actual label and the superior printing process that produced that "look," certainly the history adds a very interesting aspect to collecting cigar label art.
We hope that you all enjoy a safe and fun 4th of July holiday! And perhaps you will have time to browse....
HAPPY 4TH OF JULY FROM SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA!
Jay-Eye-See
June 22, 2010
Jay-Eye-See was named by his owner Jerome Increase Case for his own initials. Case was born in 1819 to a New York farming family. As a young child he read an article about a machine that could cut wheat without farmers needing to use their hands to aid it. It was then that he developed an interest in agriculture. In 1831 Cyrus Hall McCormick demonstrated the first reaper machine in Virginia. That has been considered by many agriculture experts to be a key moment in farming history.
Case took a small, hand-powered threshing machine from New
York to Wisconsin, where he fixed the machine and established
the J. I. Case Company. In 1843 he moved his company to Racine,
Wisconsin where he would have better access to water and
facilities. In 1863, Case sought partnership with three other
farmers, Massena Erskine, Robert Baker and Stephen Bull. These
four would later be nicknamed “the big four” of the farming
industry. Case was later recognized as being the first American
to create a steam engine for agricultural use.
Later in his retirement (1870s) he purchased some race horses.
He bought a 200-acre farm south of the city of Racine where
Jerome Park is today and developed the Hickory Grove house farm.
Jay-Eye-See was foaled in 1878. He was bred by Col. Richard West
of Lexington, KY., and was an extra that was thrown in for $500
with a string of horses Case had purchased to make the purchase
price of the lot fair. Back at the farm,
Jay-Eye-See was considered to be the freak of the lot. He would
rack, pace, and trot indiscriminately. Edwin Bither, however,
the farm’s trainer, didn’t give up on him and began to mold him
into a winning race horse.
In August of 1884, Jay-Eye-See set the new world record for the
mile in trotting in 2:10 winning for himself the title of
Monarch of the Turf and temporarily deposing from her pinnacle
of fame, Maud S. After Jerome Case’s death, his son Jackson I.
Case changed Jay-Eye-See's gait to that of a pacer. In 1892 on
the Kite track at Independence, Iowa Jay-Eye-See paced a mile in
2:06 1/2. This world record combined with his 2:10 trotting
record, established him as the world's all-time champion
double-gaited performer.
As the best artists of their day looked for
inspiration in creating the beautiful cigar labels that adorned
cigar boxes and encouraged patrons to buy that brand, champion
horses like Jay-Eye-See were a natural choice. Many beautiful
cigar labels were made with the images of these champions and
the splendor of horse racing.
Go to this site to read more information about Jerome I. Case
The New York Times August 2, 1884
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_Corporation
Jay-Eye-See Sample Outer NM 8 $165
Turf Leader Sample Inner VF 6 $375
William Wells
June 7, 2010
When I first saw the William Wells label the vignettes intrigued me. The vignettes show an Indian walking with his arm around a young Wells and an Indian battle scene. Who was this man and what was his story?
William Wells (1770-1812) was born at Jacob’s
Creek, Pennsylvania, the youngest son of Samuel Wells, a captain
in the Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War. While
still a small child, Wells’ family moved to Kentucky, and his
mother dies soon after. Wells’ father was killed in an Indian
raid near Louisville, and the young boy went to live with a
family friend (Col. William Pope). Three years later, when Wells
was 12, he was taken captive by Miami while on a hunting trip.
Wells was adopted by a chief named Gaviahate (“Porcupine”), and
raised in the village of Kenanpakomoko, on the Eel River. His
Miami name was Apekonit (“Carrot top”), perhaps in reference to
William’s red hair. He seemed to adapt to Miami life quite well
and accompanied war parties-sometimes as a decoy.
William was located by his brothers and they visited him
sometime around 1788 or 1789. He visited Louisville but remained
with the Miami, perhaps because by then he had married a Wea
(members of the Miami who lived apart from the Miami nation-part
of the Algonquin Indians) woman and had a child. They were later
captured in a raid by General James Wilkinson in 1791 and
presumed dead. Enraged, Wells organized a 300-man “suicide
squad” that fought with distinction at St. Clair’s Defeat.
William’s courage attracted the attention of war chief Little
Turtle, and eventually he married Little Turtle’s daughter
Wanagapeth (“Sweet Breeze”), with whom he had four children.
William served the tribe as a scout during his new
father-in-law’s wars with the United States.
In 1793, Wells met with his eldest brother in Vincennes. They
traveled to Fort Nelson, where they met with General Rufus
Putnam. William warned that the British had been inciting Native
American tribes to violence against the United States, and
negotiated a release of prisoners as a goodwill gesture. General
Putnam wanted to organize a grand council of tribal chiefs to
discuss peace terms, but the Native Americans-still undefeated
by the Americans-rejected this offer.
Later, with Little Turtle’s permission, William became a captain
in the Legion of the United States, acting as a scout and
interpreter for General “Mad Anthony” Wayne. Captain Wells led
the First Sub-Legion to the battleground of St. Clair’s Defeat
(which he had fought in), and located abandoned U. S. cannons,
which the American Indians had buried. General Wayne ordered the
bones found to be buried, and then fort Recovery was built on
the battle site.
Wells was wounded in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, and went on
to act as an interpreter in treaty negotiations and state visits
by Indian chiefs.
Following the Treaty of Greenville, Chief Little Turtle asked
that Wells be appointed as an Indian Agent to the Miami. The U.
S. built an agent’s house in the newly renamed Fort Wayne, and
William and Sweet Breeze, with their children, moved from
Kentucky to resettle with the Miami. At General Wayne’s
suggestion, Little Turtle and Wells travelled to Philadelphia to
visit with President George Washington and were warmly received.
Washington presented little Turtle with a ceremonial sword, and
Wells was given a pension of $20 a month for his wounds at
Fallen Timbers. The two would travel east again in 1797 to meet
with the new president, John Adams.
When Thomas Jefferson became the United States; third president,
Wells requested that he establish a trading post at Fort Wayne
to encourage friendly relations with the area natives. Jefferson
established the post, but appointed John Johnston as manager.
Johnston and Wells did not work well together, and they quickly
came to resent the other. Territorial Governor William Henry
Harrison at first favored Wells, and appointed him a Justice of
the Peace. Wells was also charged with establishing a mail route
between Fort Wayne and Fort Dearborn. Wells’ good standing with
Harrison would soon sour, however, when he sided with his
father-in-law, Little Turtle, in opposition to the Treaty of
Vincennes, which gave large amounts of land to the Americans for
settlement. Harrison responded by accusing Wells of opposing the
Quaker Agriculture missions to the Miami. Wells appealed to
General James Wilkinson, but Wilkinson sided with Harrison and
Johnston.
In 1805, Governor Harrison sent General John Gibson and Colonel
Francis Vigo to investigate Wells and Little Turtle on suspicion
of fiscal corruption and instigation of the Miami against the
United States. Their report concluded that Wells “seems more
attentive to the Indians than the people of the United States.”
Sweet Breeze died in 1805, and William sent his daughters to
live with his brother, Samuel Wells, in Kentucky. He and Little
Turtle travelled to Vincennes, where they gave a “friendly
disposition….toward the government,” Harrison wrote. “With
Captain Wells, I have had an explanation, and have agreed to a
general amnesty and act of oblivion for the past.” William and
Little Turtle signed Harrison’s Treaty of Grouseland. But in
1808, Wells led a group of Indian chiefs from different tribes,
including Miami chief Little Turtle to Washington D. C. to meet
directly with President Jefferson. This infuriated Secretary of
War Henry Dearborn, who fired Wells and replaced him with his
rival, John Johnston.
In 1809, William married his third wife, Mary Geiger, daughter
of Colonel Frederick Geiger. They and Wells’ four children
returned to Fort Wayne, where he received a discharge from the
new U. S. Indian agent John Johnston. With the support of the
Miami and Senator John Pope, Wells went to Washington D. C. to
challenge Johnston’s decision. Ultimately, Wells’ position was
left in the hands of territorial Governor William Henry Harrison
who, though distrustful of Wells, sided with the Miami out of
fear that they could join Tecumseh if provoked. William Wells
continued to act as United States Indian Agent in Fort Wayne,
and was able to keep the Miami out of Tecumseh’s confederacy. He
was the first to warn Secretary Dearborn, in 1807, of the
growing alliance led by Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa
(The Prophet). Deemed a threat to the United States, a
preemptive strike against the confederation was launched
resulting in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe. William’s eldest
brother Colonel Samuel Wells, and his father-in-law Frederick
Geiger were both involved in that battle; Geiger was wounded in
the initial attack.
William Wells also established and managed a farm in Fort Wayne,
which he jointly owned with his friend Jean Francois Hamtramck.
He petitioned congress for a 1,280-acre tract of land at the
confluence of the St. Joseph and the St. Mary Rivers in 1807,
which was granted and signed by President Jefferson. Little
Turtle died in his home in 1812 and was buried nearby.
In 1812, Wells led a group of Miami to come to the aid of Fort
Dearborn. Among the Americans under siege was Rebekah Wells:
William’s niece, and the wife of Nathan Heald. They were ordered
to evacuate, but were attacked in the Fort Dearborn Massacre.
Nathan and Rebekah were both wounded but managed to escape and
surrender to the British. Wells was shot and killed by
Potowatami. He was himself dressed in Indian fashion, and his
face was painted black in anticipation of death. His opponents,
although considering him a traitor to their cause, nonetheless
reportedly ate his heart to gain some of his courage.
WILLIAM WELLS IS AN INSTONE
100 LABEL
en.wikipedia.org
William Wells soldier photo-wikipedia commons
ANNOUNCING:
May 17, 2010
The InStone 100 Cigar Label
Registry
Mike Bianco created the
InStone 100 as an index in order to evaluate pricing on cigar
box labels. Since its creation,
there is still much to learn
about cigar box labels; their rarity, relative quality and
popularity. With
the help of GCLGS (Global Cigar Label Grading Service), a
registry set format has been created with prizes.
Registry set submissions allow:
1. the ability to rank your set with other collectors
2. a way of tracking (an inventory feature) your I-100 set
3. ability to learn about what grades are available for specific
labels
4. a friendly competition with like-minded collectors who share
your passion for labels
Submit your set and have fun watching your as it moves up in the
ranking as you add more labels!
Thank you for your participation and have fun!! Go to I-100
Cigar Label Registry on the side menu and
register your set today!
Carolina
Fiddle will be exhibiting at:
the Fiddler's Grove Festival in Union Grove, NC
on May 29-30, 2010.
We did a story about Steven Miller who turns cigar boxes into
beautiful fiddles in 2009.
Link to
2009 story.
Or check him out at
www.CarolinaFiddle.com
ANNOUNCING
A NEW BOOK!
May 7, 2010
ANTIQUE CIGAR LABEL ART
BY Beach-Baxley
JUST OUT! THIS BOOK FEATURES OVER 1100
BEAUTIFUL
PICTURES OF RARE CIGAR LABEL ART. IT ALSO HAS
HELPFUL
INFORMATION FOR THE COLLECTOR. CADDY LABELS ARE
ALSO
FEATURED AND SOME OF THE INNER LABELS PICTURED
ARE
ON CIGAR BOX LIDS. WHILE WE FOUND THE PRICING
INFORMATION
TO BE ON THE HIGH SIDE, WE HOPE THAT IT IS JUST A
"LOOK AHEAD"
OF WHAT'S TO COME FOR CIGAR LABEL ART!
IT ALSO FEATURES AN ARTICLE ABOUT A PROCESS
CALLED THE
METAGRAPHIC PROCESS THAT WAYNE BAXLEY EXPLAINS ON
PAGE 105.
WE ARE OFFERING A LIMITED
TIME SPECIAL! RECEIVE THIS BOOK
FREE WITH ANY ORDER OF $250 OR MORE.
OR
YOU MAY PURCHASE IT FOR
$29.95
(SHIPPING INCLUDED-SHIPPED BOOK RATE WHEN PURCHASING BOOK ONLY)
GO TO OUR
BOOKS AND SPECIALS SECTION
**correction to the email we sent out-the metagraphic process
was not used for the images in this book.
we apologize for the misinformation
Generous
Collectors
April 20, 2010
Oftentimes we have seen passionate collectors portrayed as
slightly off, egocentric recluses hoarding their treasures
in dimly-lit libraries or cellars for their eyes only. Two
(three) generous collectors who have worked hard to break that
stereotype are Jay
T. Last and John (and Carolyn) Grossman.
Surely each has found singular pleasure in hunting, finding,
and acquiring their ephemeral paper, but they have also enjoyed
sharing what they’ve found with different groups in a variety of
ways including publishing, exhibits, licensing ventures, and
even welcoming interested small groups to their homes.
Both, however, have now gone beyond these efforts by finding
permanent homes for their massive collections in not-for-profit
educational institutions: Winterthur, near Wilmington, Delaware,
and The Huntington Library in San Marino,
California. They both wanted to entrust their collections to
others with greater opportunities for public outreach.
John and Carolyn
Grossman
On April 24, 1974 John wandered into an eclectic little shop in
the San Francisco Bay area not really appreciating how it would
change his life. He bought a few pieces of printed paper from
Oliver’s Oddities. The proprietor called one of them a trade
card. There was also a chromolithographed label from the inside
of a cigar box lid, and a lone valentine. As a graphic artist
who had studied at the Sorbonne, Grossman had a practiced eye
for the elements of design in these little works of art. Two
weeks later he was back at Oliver’s for more, perhaps starting
to recognize the symptoms of his fixation on what he later
learned to call ephemera.
By 1979 Grossman had amassed enough ephemera primarily from the
Victorian/Edwardian eras, to create a product line of gift bags,
gift boxes, and stickers that he designed with these images. In
1985 he and Carolyn opened The Gifted Line, an enterprise that
not only sold ephemera-decorated gift items, but also licensed
other companies to use his images on their products. “I sat back
and realized how exciting this had become,” Grossman recalled.
“The company was doing well and also giving me the wherewithal
to buy more ephemera. I was a collector, after all!”
Grossman’s collection grew to about 50,000 images and the
company was growing, too. He decided that they needed to hire a
full time curator to catalog and devise a system to keep track
of and
find everything! David Mihaly was that person. David was
museum-trained and devised a system for organizing the
collection.
In 1998, the Grossmans sold The Gifted line but continued to
license their images. Today their customers include names
that are internationally known. But when the company was sold,
they began to “fuss” over the collection’s future. Both wanted
it to have wider exposure. David had given talks to both the
Ephemera Society of America and the Ephemera Society in England
and found that exciting.
He began to realize the importance of
the material and how people could learn from it. That’s where
his interest had gone. At age 75,
John was looking for a way for
his collection to benefit society in a broader way. At the same
time, given his original investment, his time, improvements, and
the appreciation in value, he could not afford to make it a
straight donation. It represents, he said, their retirement.
He
wanted to find a good institution for his collection, where it
would be used and appreciated but he and Carolyn also needed a
return
on their investment. John had seen other important
collections broken up, sometimes being auctioned away so that
the owner had nothing left but a pile
of cash and a pretty catalog that represented decades of work.
Or some collectors had passed on without making any arrangements
for their collections and may have been left to heirs that had
no appreciation or interest in the ephemera.
Finding
a good home for his collection was not easy. They hired
a “finder” (a person who really knows their way around museums
and libraries) to act as their agent. Next came valuing the
collection
by a qualified appraiser. The finder and the owner may have to
do some ‘selling’ also, such as listing the special features of
the collection. Grossman could list the output of
the George Schlegel Company that covered four generations of the
Schlegel Lithographing Co, in New York from 1849-1964. The
Grossman Collection includes a massive collection (within a
collection) of cigar labels, complete job tickets, original art
and progressive proof books.
The Winterthur museum and Library was extremely interested and
well aware of the Grossman Collection because former Ephemera
Society of America President Richard McKinstry is Winterthur’s
Andrew W. Mellon Senior Librarian. “I was excited because of the
great potential it would give us to become one of the best
collections for study of visual America anywhere,” McKinstry
said. McKinstry and his supervisor Greg Landrey had both taken
trips to Arizona to view the collection and were both
overwhelmed in a good way. After all the loading, the 42-hour
trip to Winterthur and now knowing that their prized collection
is in a good place, John and Carolyn said that the transfer of
their collection to Winterthur had accomplished everything they
had hoped.
The Jay T. Last
Collection
Since October of 2009, Californians have been treated to view a
never before seen collection of chromolithographed ephemera. It
is Jay Last’s “The Color Explosion” Exhibit at the Huntington
Library in San Marino. It features 350 colorful posters, fruit
crate labels, cigar box labels, sheet music, seed
packets, early parlor games and other ephemera.
Many
of the viewers were awe-struck by the impressive collection.
Oddly,
one of the most excited viewers was Jay Last, the man who
collected all these pieces over the span of 35 years, has lived
with them daily and who, three years ago donated his entire
collection of 135,000 pieces to the Huntington.
I couldn’t stop smiling,” Last said, “looking at the reactions
of the people seeing these for the first time. Some were just
blown away. It was also the
first time I had ever seen them like this in a mass display. It
was quite a sight and confirmed for me that I had done the right
thing.”
Last said that he always saw himself as a steward of the
ephemera he has amassed rather than just a collector. He was
looking for an institution that shared his ethic and found it in
The Huntington. He has seen so many collections get dispersed
thereby losing so much of the information that has accumulated
with the collection. Last recalls, “I remember one collection
that traced the entire history of a single railroad sold
piecemeal. That’s why so much of my collection is made up of
other people’s collections-people that were happy to know that
all of their effort would be kept together.”
Collecting had become Jay’s life having spent what he once
calculated as
250 “collecting years” when he took into account the time spent
by the
others represented in his “collection of collections.” Deciding
to pass along
his collection was difficult. He thought about not wanting to
pass away and leave his wife to make the hard decisions about
what to do with the collection.
While he was researching his 2005
book on 19th century American lithography, The Color Explosion,
he visited about 40 museums and libraries and realized that some
really didn't do a very good job of taking care of their
collections. He saw much material that was just left in flat
files or drawers unused. Others had difficulty locating what
they had-not very well-organized. This was not the environment
that Jay was seeking for his collection. A book-dealer friend,
who knew Last's collection and also knew The Huntington,
suggested he might find what he was looking for just 45 minutes
away from his home.
When a group from The Huntington visited Jay’s
collection he said they showed an immediate interest. They had
many discussions about what was important to them and what was
important to Jay. Jay said “It was very open and we had a
good meeting of the minds. There is a written agreement, but
it’s not very long.”
Last’s gift to The Huntington in 2006 also came with an
endowment that enabled the library to hire and support a curator
for the collection. In 2007 David Mihaly was appointed Curator
of lithographic History and Ephemera, the Jay T. Last
Collection. Mihaly had the chance to work on two fabulous
collections! So far about 156 percent of Last’s collection has
been moved to the library to a 1,500 square-foot space
especially for the Last Collection. Mihaly spends at least one
day
a week at Jay’s home organizing, then digitizing the images and
moving them to The Huntington. A digital surrogate stays with
Last so he can continue to work with the entire collection.
The goal is to have everything available electronically. Then
they will be able to share Jay’s material with the public
through exhibits like “The Color Explosion,” through independent
research, and through product and image licensing. “The rewards
of seeing a broader group of people enjoy and use the collection
is even better than having it myself” says Jay.
The cigar label community is very lucky to have two such
generous and forward-thinking collectors who not only love cigar
labels but have worked to ensure an avenue to share the beauty
of them with EVERYone.
The Ephemera News
Volume 28
Winter 2010
By Permission from: Eric Johnson
Images courtesy of the John and Carolyn Grossman Collection of
Antique Images at Winterthur
The
Ephemera Society of America
The Winterthur Grossman Brochure
(cigar labels on pages 7-9)
Overview of Grossman Collection
The Huntington-Jay T. Last
collection
Historic Tracking
of the InStone 100
April 7, 2010
During the last months of 2009 and now in the early months of
2010, there seems to be a heightened
interest in the InStone 100. Label historian Sid Emerson has
researched the label prices from 1994 (six years
before Mike Bianco began the InStone 100) and would like to
share this information with you.
Sid has always been a wonderful ambassador for the hobby sharing
his knowledge and helping to educate many
new collectors. Sid always has time to explain things to
beginning collectors and he continues to share his expertise
with all collectors. We thought that this information
would be of interest to all of you I-100 collectors out there.
While we’ve tracked the prices for the set over the years since
its inception in 2000, looking over this old price data is quite
intriguing. Sid even found an old 1992 price sheet for the I-100
that he’d worked up based on his best estimates for that year
(since there was no price guide for 1992).
As we’ve learned from getting our labels certified from GCLGS
(the Global Cigar Label Art Grading Service), many
of them are truly not as high a grade as we thought they
were. Additionally, over the years, we’ve discovered that some
titles we thought were plentiful are becoming increasingly hard
to find….or that some don’t seem to come
in a grade higher than a VF 6.
At 10 years old, the InStone 100 has truly matured into what we
hoped it would become: a set of nice labels
that’s attainable for all collectors. We’re excited that there’s
chatter on the Forum on Astral, Inc.; that we’re discussed on
the Cigar Label blog as well as on individuals’ personal blogs;
and that even large auction
houses like Heritage list labels as InStone 100 labels.
We’ve begun the I-100 Price Guide so you have a better idea of
what InStone 100 labels are out there and what they’re graded.
We’ll update the Price Guide information as it becomes available
to keep you current.
Just click on I-100 Historic Tracking (on the side menu of the Home Page) to check out the historic tracking of your InStone 100
PATRIOTIC LABELS
March 23,2010
In the heyday of cigar smoking, the 1890s, the talented
lithographers of the day
produced
beautiful labels depicting every possible theme to attract
attention to
the selling of cigars. One of the most prevalent of these was the
patriotic images.
A
powerful tool in selling cigars,
these labels featured detailed renditions of Lady Liberty, proud
eagles, Uncle Sam and the like
stirring everyone’s patriotism .
Heroic war figures were also a
popular choice of lithographers. Choosing patriotic themes was a
good choice since America especially in its infancy was
populated with people with a strong love and devotion to their
country. Eye-catching images portraying the
American flag or our proud soldiers evoked the pride of the
country felt by all.
Gen. Steedman (James), a major general in the Ohio militia who
went on to become a brigadier-general was one of the many heroic
images that made it onto a cigar box.
Many labels exist depicting various images of well known General
Nelson Appleton Miles (1839-1925). He was awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor during the civil War as Major
General. He later led troops against the Sioux and Apache
Indians in the 1880s and 90s. Miles was our Senior Officer in
the Spanish American War as a Lt. General.
The
bald eagle became our National Bird in 1782 when the great seal
of the
United States was adopted in spite of Benjamin Franklin’s
opposition to this
idea. He wanted it to be the turkey.
Benjamin Franklin wrote:
I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the
representative of our
country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get
his living honestly,
you may have seem him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy
to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk,
and when that diligent bird
has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for
the support of his mate
and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from
him….besides he
is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow
attacks him boldly
and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means
a proper emblem
for the brave and honest….of America….For a truth, the turkey is
in comparison a much more respectable bird, and a true original
native of America…a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to
attack a grenadier of the British guards, who would presume to
invade his farmyard with a red coat. Sorry Ben, we just can’t
imagine having a turkey as our National Bird! Many beautiful
cigar labels feature impressive images of the bald eagle-a
majestic bird.
The prolific use of the patriotic theme by all lithographers has
left us with a staggering array of wonderful cigar box labels to
cherish and collect.
Labels in this article:
Gen. Steedman-Outer EX 7 $275
Our General Smp-Inner EX 7 $525
Our Progress 1900 Smp-Inner EX
7 $675
Pride of Liberty Smp-Inner EX 7
$700
Uncle Sam V3-Inner EX 7 $250
*Patriotic Cigar-Label Art 1998 Silas
Bass & Edwin D. Barnes
The Calvert Lithographing Company
March 16, 2010
Thomas Calvert, an English-born entrepreneur founded what was to become one of the nation’s most successful commercial lithography companies when he arrived in Detroit in 1861. At that time Detroit was a growing city and a major point of entry into the American frontier. From humble beginnings when his office employed only one man and a small hand press, Calvert rapidly expanded his firm to meet the printing needs of a growing nation. The Englishman excelled at chromolithography and built up an enviable reputation over the years in sign, label and poster making. Calvert’s staff of artists and engravers turned out finely detailed and technically perfect images in stunning colors, true works of art in the fine Victorian tradition.
The Calvert firm established itself as one of the country’s premier lithographic houses. It was a major producer of tobacco-related advertising ephemera for Detroit-based companies and even turned out a few cigar box labels after the Civil War.
By the 1890s he had become a wealthy man and an officer in the National Lithographer’s Association. He then employed over 300 people who operated 22 steam and hand-powered lithography presses and filled orders taken by sales offices in Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco.
Calvert
remained active in the company until his death in 1900. And his
son Charles Browne Calvert (1848-1920) retired soon after his
father’s death,
and the Calvert family ceased to be involved in the company
which bore their name. In 1903 the Calvert firm moved into a five-story building at the corner of Grand River Avenue and Elizabeth Street in downtown Detroit. They tripled their assets between 1908 and 1920, totaling almost a million dollars. The company prospered under the direction of Claude Candler (an original partner) and George Heigho and Frederick Huetwell, both of whom served the company from the 1890s until their retirements in the 1940s. The fortunes of the company declined after it was sold to a group of Chicago investors in 1950. The company again moved in 1967 to Warren, Michigan and the Grand River building was torn down. In 1970 the Calvert Lithographing Company was absorbed by the Canadian printing company of Lawson and Jones, Ltd.
Calvert Poster available in EX for $300 (See Books & Specials)
Thank you Dr. Petrone for the information from your brochure and for the use of the image of the factory from your book: Cigar Label Art: Portraits of Life, Mirrors of History
March 3, 2010
Nick
Buzolich "Thor"
We are very sad to let you know that we lost a very important
part of the world-wide fraternity of Cigar Label Art
lovers. Nick Buzolich or "Thor" as many of you knew him, passed
away Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at the age of 59. Nick
battled poor health for the past several years and succumbed to
those problems at his daughter's home.
If there was a measurement of a person's passion for labels,
Nick would have gone over the top! He loved labels!
He will be dearly missed by us all. Rest in peace Nick. We send
our heartfelt condolences and our prayers to
his family.
Here is the information for Nick's Celebration of Life:
Copy & Paste to follow the links:
To donate to the Orange County Food Bank-http://ocfoodbank.org/donate/funds.html
Market Observation
Feb 23, 2010
Mike Bianco
At the recent F.U.N. (Florida United Numismatics, Inc)
Coin Show in Orlando, Florida on January 7th-10th,
2010, there was a PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) PR
(Proof)-64 1913 Liberty nickel (there are
only 5 known) in the Heritage Rare Coin Auction. After frantic
bidding it brought 3.7 million dollars. As a
coin collector, it's a coin we all dream of owning.
Unfortunately, it's out of most collectors' price range.
In the 1970s when I started coin collecting, it was about a
$50,000 coin. Unfortunately I could not buy one
back then either. In the 1980s it was a $200,000+ coin. Then in
the 1990s the price took off ending the
decade at close to $1,000,000!
The other day when I was viewing a friend's label collection, it
dawned on me that we are fortunate as
cigar label art collectors. There are many great labels
where there may be less than five known. It made me
think of the similarities with coins, perhaps it is a good idea
to buy these labels and hold on to them.
We may never have another opportunity to get labels at these
prices!
***Collectors, please not that all future updates to the I-100
Price Guide will be in GREEN. The prices in GREEN
will be the latest new updated prices.
*picture of 1913 Liberty nickel from The Official
Red Book-A Guide Book of United States Coins-Professional
Edition R.S. Yeoman
WATCH FOR THE INSTONE REGISTRY SETS! COMING SOON!
Feb 2010
Announcing the InStone 100 Price Guide
This guide was formulated using ONLY known GCLGS certified labels. There is pricing for several grades of each label based upon the available information to date. Upgrades to this Price Guide will be made as more information becomes available. Look on the left side of this page for the NEW link to the InStone 100 Price Guide. This is another tool to help you as you collect your I-100 Set!
Also, click on InStone 100 and to see the updated 2010 price tracking information on the InStone 100.
We thank you all for your kind comments of Issue 8 of the Cigar label Digest and for it’s wonderful reception. If you have information to share with your fellow collectors, we are happy to consider your articles for the next issue. Share your knowledge and make collecting better for everyone!
How I Got Started
January 2010
Glen Miranker
Sherlock Holmes Collector
Michael Mustacchi & Associates
I’ve been collecting Sherlock Holmes since 1977. It’s a pretty broad collection—I have some manuscript material, firsts and early editions, and a nice collection of pastiches and writings about the writings. My goal is not to be a collector. The adventure, the intellectual and emotional excitement is what I’m after. My collection is fairly large, so it’s a greater challenge to find interesting items. Efficiency is not part of my agenda, but good things show up often enough to keep my attention.
Age: 51
Residence: San Francisco
Occupation: Chief technical officer for Apple Computer
Size of Collection: 3500 items
Most Recent Acquisition:
A pirated 1907 paperback edition of The Tales of Sherlock
Holmes.
Most Spent on a Book:
More than I spent on my first house.
Favorite Bookseller:
Peter Stern—absolutely. He’s a close friend.
Holy Grail:
If you’ll forgive me, I’m not going to answer the question. I
don’t think it will help me get them.
Biggest Regret:
All my regrets are things I didn’t buy. All but one of those
regrets has been repaired, though at much greater expense in
every case.
Advice for New Collectors:
Get as smart as you can as fast as you can.
Internet: Amp It Up or Pull the Plug?
I hate it. The one thing that is not important to me at all is
efficiency in the assembly of a collection. Efficiency is not on
the list of virtues. Going to bookstores, smelling the mildew,
swapping stories and lies with the proprietor are all absent.
And this is from a techie, not a troglodyte.
The beginnings of my interest in Sherlock Holmes and of my collection of Sherlock Holmes are really two separate events. I read Holmes as a young child, of course, but I rediscovered him in college. One day in my sophomore or junior year, I was in a real funk. I don’t remember why—a girl had dumped me or I’d blown a test or something. My roommate came in, saw what was up, and threw an omnibus edition of the stories and novels at me and told me to read it. I did, and I was fascinated.
A couple of years later, when I was in grad school and married about six months, I was home working on a Saturday or Sunday as MIT doctoral students do. My wife went for a walk and came back with a present. She handed me an American first edition of The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes. She had stumbled upon a small antiquarian book fair in the basement of a church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Until that moment, it hadn’t dawned on me that regular people could have a relationship with books other than reading. That moment was the start. I didn’t really collect anything up to that point. The disease—the gentle madness—had lain dormant until that time. In my case, it’s a monomania, limited to Sherlock Holmes.
A selection of first editions, association copies, and ephemera from Glen Miranker’s Sherlock Holmes collection will be on display at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair, February 18–20. He will give a talk about his collection and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective on February 20. The fair, the largest rare book event in the world, will be held at the Concourse Exhibition Center, 638 8th Street, San Francisco.
Soon after, I opened up the yellow pages and found all the antiquarian book dealers in Boston and Cambridge. In those days, there were a substantial number of them, and I probably visited them all. I knew absolutely nothing about collecting, so my only criteria were that the book was old and the material interesting to me.
I had the good fortune to meet Dan Posnansky,
a truly great collector, shortly after I started. His collection
of Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes is astounding. He was
and is an extraordinarily generous fellow, with both his
knowledge and his time. He has an unbelievably thick Bronx
accent, even though he’s lived in Cambridge for years. He said,
“C’mere boy. I’m going to teach you how to collect books.” And
he did.
Glen told us that he has been searching for this label for 10
years or more. When he contacted us,
we had just put this label out for sale. What perfect timing!
Glen is so happy with his label and we're
happy that we had it for him. It's such a joy to bring a
collector together with a label that he/she has
been searching for! We know that Sherlock Junior has gone to a
good home.
www.finebooksmagazine.com/issue/0301/miranker.phtml
by permission of Gary Miranker
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