Amusing Advertising for Greenback Tobacco

As I have mentioned before, it's ironic that I've never smoked, for my ephemera collection is heavy with good tobacco advertising of the 19th century.

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In my side bar page on antique trade cards, I note that 19th century advertising often had imagery that had little or nothing to do with the product being sold. The charming card above, which measures 12¼" x 7½", is a prime example.

For my own collecting purposes — which are very much rooted in an interest of graphic history — I like that the card beautifully illustrates the tobacco's packaging.

While the plug cut is wrapped in paper, you can see that the Greenback tobacco is a cloth bag with a draw string, surrounded by a paper label and seal. The paper around the Greenback would have been discarded immediately, so I would surmise that if any labels are still in existence, they'd be mint and unused.

The quality of the artwork and lithography is very fine. While Marburg Brothers was obviously in North Carolina, the advertising was done by Hoen & Co. of Baltimore, Maryland. If you click on the link, you'll see that the lithography was probably the most advanced of its time.

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A Great Victorian Tin

As a graphic designer, I'm always inspired by the colorful, exuberant packaging designs of the 19th century. The tobacco industry had some of the best designs and that's why, though I've never smoked, I've collected lots of tobacco advertising.

 

This is one of my favorite tins, Buckingham Bright Cut Plug Smoking Tobacco. While the design is from the 1800s, the actual tin is probably from the late 1920s. It's in remarkable condition.

The product was produced by the American Tobacco Company, which was founded by J. B. (James Buchanan) Duke in 1890. Duke acquired more than 200 competitors, in part because he quickly embraced a mechanical cigarette-rolling machine that other tobacco companies had shied away from. Within 20 years of its founding, the American Tobacco Company controlled approximately 80% of tobacco products in the United States. Then, in a process which began in 1907, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act reduced Duke's company to four separate tobacco companies.

In 1924, J. B. Duke endowed Trinity College of Durham, North Carolina with such a substantial gift that the college changed its name to Duke University in honor of J.B.'s father, Washington Duke.

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From Tobacco Cards to Baseball Cards

If you've had an opportunity to visit my page on trade cards and the evolution of corporate identity (in the right-hand sidebar), you know that Victorians of all ages enjoyed receiving little premium cards with virtually everything they purchased.

The cards of tobacco companies were especially popular because they were often distributed in sets. Above is one of my cards from the 1870s, of Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, and one of the greatest actors of the 19th century. It was distributed by Between the Acts Cigarettes, and would have been included in a set of famous actors.

From my collections, here are two views of a Between the Acts tin from the 1920s. It still has its tissue and all the cigarettes!

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ancestor of the bubblegum card was the tobacco card. Customers going into a tobacco shop might have seen a poster like the one above. It displays a complete set of racing colors, each card of which was in an individual pack. Of course one would have had to smoke a lot of cigarettes to get a complete set.

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I was fortunate enough to find a cigarette poster by the same tobacco company. It features all the rulers of the world, and dates to the 1880s. In the poster, all of the cards are actual size.

These handsome cards from the Jefferson R. Burdick collection, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were distributed by the American Tobacco Company in 1911. As tobacco card sets progressed, there became a greater emphasis on sports and athletic teams.

The rarest baseball card is this 1909 Piedmont Honus Wagner, which recently sold for $1.62 million. The card was in early distribution when Honus Wagner objected to being associated with the sale of tobacco, and demanded that all remaining cards be withdrawn.

Perhaps Honus Wagner, who was very popular, was a factor in the transition from tobacco cards to bubblegum cards. More likely it had to do with the gradual death of trade cards in general. In any event, the collecting of baseball cards shifted to a younger demographic, and the cards came to be issued by candy companies.

These striking cards, also from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were distributed with Cracker Jack candy between 1914 and 1915.
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Tobacco Ephemera 5

While silks are not technically ephemera, they were among the many premiums distributed by early 20th century tobacco companies. I don't actively collect tobacco silks, but they occasionally show up in trade card collections. This silk and the two that follow were distributed by Nebo and Zira cigarettes, early brands of the American Tobacco Company. They date to circa 1910. King Ferdinand was one of a set of 10 called Rulers of the Balkans and Italy.

Queen Ester and Queen Louisa were part of a set of 15 call Famous Queens.

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Tobacco silks came in a variety of sizes and were popular with collectors, who often sewed them into quilts. This quilt is from Fabrics.net, and similar tobacco quilts can be seen at that site, here. Also at Fabrics.net are smaller quilts, perhaps table covers or wall decorations, that were made from the colorful yellow ribbons that were used to tie up bundles of cigars.

My thanks to Fabrics.net.

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Tobacco Ephemera 4

The image above must have been shockingly racey and sexy when it was printed in the 1880s. No lady would have smoked in public then — or bared so much shoulder (gasp!). At 6", this die cut is larger than most trade cards.
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Tobacco Ephemera 3

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Horseshoe Cross Bar was a cut plug tobacco. (It appears that in the 1800s, just as today, cut plug was associated with sports!)

Much of my antique advertising collection is in the form of trade cards, and if you haven't had a chance to view my page on trade cards (in the sidebar), you can access it here.

Horseshoe Cross Bar issued trade cards that looked like the image above, though this example and the two images below are actually from packaging. When the Victorians were pasting trade cards into their albums, they often also included packaging scraps. And aren't we glad they did!

I want to note here that these colors have not in any way been enhanced. The Victorians did not used the 4-color printing process that we use today. So in these lithographed pieces, if a brilliant orange-red was desired, a brilliant orange-red ink was used.

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Tobacco Ephemera 2

Ephemera, as I've mentioned before, is paper memorabilia that was never intended to be saved. This is a wonderful example of ephemera — it's a paper packet that held three cheroots. Someone long, long ago liked the design enough that they set it aside, and if not for them, we wouldn't be looking at this great example of Victorian graphic design.

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Just what is a "cheroot?" It's a small cigar that's clipped at both ends. Because the ends don't taper, the cheroot is easier and faster to roll and therefore less expensive than finer cigars.

I wish I could reach out and share this in person! This packaging is printed with a gold ink that is quite reflective now; it must have absolutely glistened in 1886.
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Tobacco Ephemera 1

I thought that over the course of several postings, I'd share some tobacco ephemera from my advertising collection. This piece, which acts like a pocket, is made of very stiff paper, and it doesn't seem suited for holding loose tobacco or cigarettes.

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I think it was a neat little folder for holding cigarette rolling paper. Don't you love the leathery background? Perhaps it's meant to be alligator skin. Here's the back.

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