Cigar Label Art

By O. L. Lisot

The use of tobacco as a creature comfort and would be cure-all was born many years ago. It would eventually work its way into the American culture and give birth to a unique form of art. This historical art form is being returned in modern times. The latest craze to invade the art world is one where commercial stone lithography has been classified as "Historical Art." Many cigar labels fall into this category. Cigar label designs were created to sell cigar to the smoking public to satisfy one of their many basic pleasures and the art form is reborn as an art collectible. 

The best smoking tobacco was grown as a broad leaf plant throughout the world. Tobacco was grown in cultivated fields, as seen in the label on top of this page. Cigar smoking dates back to the Aztec culture. It is believed the first European to smoke a cigar was one of Columbus' crew. It was reputed that he was the first persecuted for the habit; was sentenced to seven years in prison for smoking in public in Spain.

Cigar smoking was slow to catch on in English-dominated America. It was not until after the Civil War that it caught on in the United States. After the Civil War, the growth in the United States was dynamic and exciting: Industrial growth, immigrants arriving at an unusually high rate, mechanization and mass production of many products. With the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, America was on the move. It was about 1870 when quality cigars were introduced into the American market place. The cigar makers needed a media to advertise and display their wares. With each new brand of cigar, came a new designed cigar label.

About one billion cigars were consumed in the U.S. in year 1870, and smoking peaked out in the 1920's at eight billion. At the turn of the 19th century, there were an estimated 15,000 and over 350,000 brands being marketed in the United States.