The Forgotten Art on Old Cigar Boxes

Ajouté : 2026-06-05

[00:00:00]A single vintage cigar box label from the 1880s can sell for anywhere from a dollar to over a thousand depending on what is on it, who printed it, and how rare it is. There is an entire collecting category built around this and most people have never heard of it.

[00:00:14]Cigar box labels started becoming collectible in the mid-19th century partly because they were better looking than anything else [music] in print.

[00:00:22]Chromolithography allowed for metallic inks and boast textures and vivid colors. [music] Most of the finest work came out of New York. Major printing houses, George Schlegel, Schumacher, and Ethlinger, F.

[00:00:35]Heppenheimer's Sons competed for the cigar industry's business. [music] In 1892 many merged to form American Lithographic Company. Labels featured neoclassical imagery, allegorical figures, [music] and historical scenes.

[00:00:48]These labels became a record of American commercial art at its technical peak before photography took over advertising. Chromolithography was the medium that made products look desirable. Cigar labels are among the best surviving examples. Common labels sell for few dollars. Rarer examples from notable printers in exceptional condition reach several hundred.

[00:01:10]Exceptional pieces have exceeded a thousand at auction. The collecting category is called tobacciana. Entry level is accessible. Estate sales, antique shops, and online marketplaces carry common examples cheaply. Value climbs fast when you find something from a known printer with an unusual subject in near original condition. If you've ever come across one at an estate sale, drop it in the comments.