Old-Time Cigar Labels in Full Color

Book excerpt: 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.