2009 News

Market Report-Nov 2009                                                 by Mike Bianco


The Cigar Label Market is alive and well. Current conditions are best described as selectively bullish.
Many old time collectors that had been in hibernation are back and the ranks of new collectors are growing
again.

One exciting development is the recent surge in participation on the Astral, Inc Cigar Label Forum. Some
of the popular topics include seeing other people's collections and high grade labels. The newest topic and one
that's generating a lot of interest; is Questions for Sid (Emerson) - as a veteran collector Sid has a wealth of knowledge that he is unselfishly willing to share to educate new collectors.

High grade InStone 100 (I-100) labels are on fire! There are at least 50 strong offers to buy some of the
tougher GCLGS certified I-100 labels in NM8-C.MT 9.5 posted on Astral, Inc. and all have gone unfilled. Dealers report strong sales of EX 7 and higher certified GCLGS I-100 labels. Demand remains steady for labels under $20. Sales of uncertified labels in the $20-$100 range are a little weak, while sales for GCLGS labels in the $100-$300 range are solid. Interest in GCLGS labels priced from $300-$1000 is quite strong and buyers of labels over $1000
are selective but willing to pay strong prices for the right label.

Examples of unfilled GCLGS Buy Prices on Astral, Inc:

American Commerce-Inner MT 9 $650
American Glory-Inner MT 9 $1750
Cupid's Web-Inner MT 9 $1400
Daniel Defoe-Inner MT 9 $1450
Jack Necker-Inner MT 9 $450
Little Knicks-Inner MT 9 $200
Prairie King-Inner MT 9 $3000
William Wells-Inner MT 9 $1500

If you are an advanced collector, you know exactly what you’re looking for and you shop our site because there’s
a good chance that we may have what you want. If you don’t find exactly the title you’re looking for, you may be enticed by another of the beautiful images you come across while browsing our extensive inventory. We love experienced and knowledgeable customers. You will see that we have acquired the finest images. And if you are
new to cigar label art collecting, we welcome you! We hope you will find a lot of information to help to educate
you about this beautiful art form. Since our labels are hand-picked and most have been certified by GCLGS
(Global Cigar Label Art Grading Service)-you can rest assured that they have passed all of the stringent standards that GCLGS has established.

Today there is a new breed of collector. Some are just coming back into collecting after many years of being on the sidelines and others are very new, looking for an interesting, fun and exciting place to put some money. You need help and yes, there are dealers that will tell you exactly what to buy. We choose to help you educate yourself about cigar labels so that you can make your own choices. The labels in your collection should be ones that you have chosen because they are somehow special to YOU or because something in the image moves YOU. We can certainly guide you on the rarity and what we think is the best plan to building a great collection. We are happy to offer guidance for you and will answer your questions to the best of our abilities.

We buy the finest labels that the market has to offer. We buy them with our own capital. We believe in the labels
that we list. We don’t have any sales reps. No one has a quota or makes a commission. Additionally, and maybe
to some individuals’ disappointment, we don’t try to convince you that this or that label is going to out-perform another label, the stock market, your real estate, bank account or any other investment. In fact, we don’t consider
a label’s primary reason for being as an investment. We believe they are a wonderful store of value. They are
historic, beautiful works of art and a lot of fun to collect. We believe that if you buy a collection of great label
images and hold those labels over time, you will have spent your money wisely and you will be ahead of the game. Fine cigar label art is a unique way to park your money. If you educate yourself about them and you have the faith to commit some resources, we feel that in time, you will be rewarded.

Check out the new Cigar Label Blog (on our LINKS page)

 

The Color Explosion: from the Jay T. Last collection
 

 

Special Members' Exhibition Preview at the Huntington Library 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California 91108 626-405-2100 The Color Explosion: Nineteenth-Century American Lithography from the Jay T. Last Collection Friday, October 16, 2009 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Huntington Members are cordially invited to an Exhibition Preview for The Color Explosion: Nineteenth-Century American Lithography from the Jay T. Last Collection on Friday, October 16, 2009, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery. The exhibition presents more than 200 examples of 19th-century American lithography, including advertising posters, art prints, children’s books, color-plate illustrations, product labels, sheet music, toys and games, and trade cards, many on public view for the first time. Color lithography changed American values, educated a rising middle class, influenced the look and function of advertising, and brought art to the masses. Filled with rich social commentary about 19th century America, The Color Explosion examines history, idealism, and popular culture, focusing on how and why color lithography shaped an era. Collector Jay T. Last, a physicist and founder of Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., is also an independent scholar of the history of lithography. His award winning book The Color Explosion: Nineteenth Century American Lithography (Hillcrest Press, 2005) will serve as the exhibition catalog. Last’s promised gift to The Huntington will serve as a significant scholarly resource in social history as well as the history of commercial advertising and the graphic arts. Please bring your current Membership card and check in at the Entrance Pavilion when you arrive and again at the Gallery to enter this exhibition preview. Can’t attend the 1:00-4:00 p.m. preview on Friday? Upgrade your Membership today and you’ll be invited to an evening reception and preview from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Your new benefits begin immediately, and a year will be added to your expiration date. Additionally, you’ll receive a free Sustaining Membership to give to the person of your choice—a great gift for the holidays. Also on Friday, the Southland Orchid Show Committee celebrates its 50th anniversary with this year’s spectacular show and sale. Hundreds of exotic blooms will be on view in elaborate displays along with rare orchid books from The Huntington's collection. Vendors will have a wide range of orchid plants and related merchandise for sale. The Orchid Show continues through Sunday in the Botanical Center and Conservatory. Questions may be directed to the Membership office at 626.405.2124.

---

Madame Le Brun


Marie Louise Elisabeth Vigee, better known under her married name of Le Brun, and generally spoken of as Madame Vigee Le Brun, was born in Paris on April 16, 1755. Her father, Louis Vigee was a pastel painter of moderate talent, devoted to his art and always ready to commend and encourage his daughter's talent. In those "Souvenirs" in which Madame Vigee Le Brun has recorded the incidents of her life, she tells us that her love for painting had already declared itself when, as a child of six, she was sent to a convent school, where she was in constant disgrace with her teachers because she decorated her copy books and those of her schoolmates, and even the walls
of the dormitory, with faces and landscapes in colored chalks. On one occasion, when at home on a holiday, she drew by lamplight a vigorous little sketch of the bead of a man, which so delighted her father that he exclaimed, "You will be a painter, my child, if ever there was one." These words Elisabeth Vigee never forgot, and that childish drawing, made when she was but seven or eight years old, was cherished by her as long as she lived.

When she was eleven Elisabeth's education was considered complete. To her great delight she then left school for good, and returned to her home, "overjoyed," she writes, "at not having to leave my parents again." The atmosphere of the household was artistic and the child had every opportunity to indulge her natural tastes. The painter Doyen, an intimate friend of her father's, helped her in her efforts to draw, and Davesne, a professor at the Academy of St. Luke, asked to be allowed to give her lessons. The lessons do not seem to have amounted to much, for beyond a few suggestions as to setting her palette Elisabeth was allowed to follow her own devices.

These were happy days for the little girl; she spent many hours in her father's studio experimenting to her heart's content with his crayons, and dutifully accompanied her mother, who, we are told, was "good to the point of austerity," to high mass and to evening prayer. She took pride in the cleverness of her brother, three years younger than herself, and assures us with naive frankness that he was much prettier than she. Indeed, at that time Elisabeth, from her own account, was far from beautiful; her eyes, she says were deep-set, her face was pale and thin and moreover, she was growing so fast that she could not hold herself erect.

All this was a trial to her mother, who showed a marked preference for her younger child, whom she spoiled with indulgences, whereas with Elisabeth she was strict and even severe. The father's love and devotion, however, were unremitting, and in return Elisabeth lavished upon him the tenderest affection. Her grief, therefore, was great when, In May, 1768, her father died. She was then thirteen years old. "So heartbroken was I," she writes, "that it was long before I felt equal to taking up my pencil again. Doyen used to come to see us sometimes, and as he had been my father's best friend his visits were a comfort. It was he who urged me to resume the occupation I loved, and in which, to tell the truth, I found the only consolation for my grief.".........

Some of Madame Le Brun's more famous paintings are:

Portrait of Madame Mole-Raymond 1787
This portrait of Madame Mole-Raymond, the actress of the Comedie Francaise, id one of Vigee Le Brun's masterpieces and hangs in the Louvre.

The Graefin von Schonfeld with her daughter 1793
This portrait is of the Countess Ursula Margaretha Agatha Victoria con Schonfeld nee von Fries who was married to Count Adolf von Schonfeld (and their daughter.)
It is housed at the University of Arizona Museum of Art in Tucson, AZ.

Young Price Lubomirski 1789
Portrait of Prince Heinrich Lubomirski, also known as "Allegory of a Prince."
Damlem Staatiliche Musee, Berlin

www.batguano.com

          Ed Barnes is BACK!

I recently had the chance to meet with Ed Barnes and his lovely wife, Kristin. I hadn’t seen or spoken to Ed for a few years;
he just seemed to vanish…but when we started up InStone, Ed was always there to help us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abraham Lincoln’s 200^th Birthday

On February 12, 2009, Abraham Lincoln would have celebrated his 200^th birthday. To honor the birth
date of one of America’s most revered presidents, there has been a flurry of interest in Lincoln memorabilia. With the Lincoln gold dollar, the new Lincoln pennies and Lincoln commemorative postage stamps, interest in ALL Lincoln memorabilia has grown. Because he is revered as one of our greatest presidents, there are many vintage cigar labels graced with his distinguished image. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky on February 12, 1809, to Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, two uneducated farmers, in a one-room log cabin on the 248-acre Sinking Spring Farm in southeast Hardin County (making him the first president to be born outside of the original thirteen colonies.) For some time Thomas Lincoln, Abraham’s father, had been a respected citizen of Kentucky’s backcountry. But in 1861
the Lincoln family became impoverished, losing their land through court action, and was forced to make a new start in Perry County, Indiana. Lincoln later noted that this move was “partly on account of slavery,” and partly because of difficulties with land deeds in Kentucky.

Lincoln’s mother passed away when he was 9 years old. Soon afterwards, his father remarried to Sarah Johnston. Lincoln and his stepmother were close; he called her “Mother” for the rest of his life, but was increasingly distant from his father.  After more economic and land-title difficulties in Indiana, the family settled on public land in Macon County, Illinois. In 1832 his father relocated to Coles County, Illinois and the 22-year old Lincoln struck out on his own.
 
While he came from humble beginnings, he somehow managed to learn to read, write and cipher. His formal education consisted of about 18 months of schooling, but he made extraordinary efforts to attain knowledge and was an avid reader. He was strong and skilled with an axe so he worked at splitting rails for fences and keeping store at New Salem, Illinois. He was a captain in the Black Hawk War, a country lawyer, spent eight years in the Illinois legislature, was a member of the House of Representatives and was twice an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate. His law partner said of him, “His ambition was a little engine
that knew no rest.”        
 
As the 16^th president of the United States, he successfully led the country through its
greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery.

Lincoln introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery; expecting to bring about the eventual extinction of slavery by stopping its further expansion into any U.S. territory, and by convincing states to accept compensated emancipation if the state would outlaw slavery (an offer that took effect only in Washington D.C.) Lincoln believed that shrinking slavery in this way would make it uneconomical, and place it back on the road to eventual extinction that the Founders had envisioned.

In 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which freed the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion. The goal was to weaken the rebellion,
which was led and controlled by slave owners. While it did not abolish the legal institution of slavery (the Thirteenth Amendment did that), the Act showed that Lincoln had the support of Congress in liberating slaves owned by rebels.  

The Emancipation Proclamation, announced on September 22, 1862 and put  into effect on
January 1, 1893, freed the slaves in territories not already under Union control. As Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until all of them in Confederate territory (over three million) were freed. Lincoln later said: “I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper.” The proclamation made the abolition of slavery in the rebel states an official war goal. He then threw his energies into passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery throughout the nation. While Lincoln tried to set up colonies for the newly freed slaves, all attempts at such a massive undertaking failed.

The Gettysburg Address is one of the most quoted speeches in United States history. It was delivered at the dedication of the Soldier’s National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1863. His speech is regarded as one the greatest speeches in American history. In just over two minutes Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as “a new birth of freedom” that would bring true equality to all of its citizens, and would also create a unified nation in which states’ rights were no longer dominant. In his address Lincoln redefined the American nation, arguing that it was born not in 1789 but in 1776. “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” He declared that the sacrifices of battle had rededicated the nation to the propositions of democracy and equality, “that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” 

On April 14, 1865, as Mary and Abraham sat to watch the comic play Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theatre, President Lincoln was mortally wounded by an assassin. Lincoln had attended
the play that night without his main bodyguard Ward Hill Lamon, to whom he had related his famous dream regarding his own assassination. John Wilkes Booth, a well-known actor and a Confederate spy from Maryland had succeeded in his plan to assassinate the President. Mrs. Lincoln accompanied her husband across the street to the Petersen House, where the President died the following day, April 15^th. As the war was coming to a close, Lincoln became the first American president to be assassinated. Our nation lost a great man on that day.

Abraham Lincoln has become known as the Great Emancipator who “freed the slaves” and
“saved the union.” And while those things are true, Lincoln as a person was so much more than that. He was a principled, moral man. He didn’t let his life circumstances deter him from learning and being the person that he wanted to be. To quote Senator Dick Durbin, “He is a true American hero whose enormous courage and strength of character during some of our nation’s most tumultuous times have been sources of inspiration for generations of Americans.”

MARY TODD LINCOLN

Ironically Lincoln married Mary Todd, daughter of a prominent slave-owning family from Kentucky in 1842. The couple had four sons but
the only two to survive to adulthood were Robert Todd and Thomas (known as “Tad”.) Coming from a privileged family, Mary had a hard time adjusting to her new life because she was used to having slaves perform most of the chores for all of her life. Also since Mary was used to having money her entire life, she struggled with the adjustment to relative poverty. 

Mary Todd attended fine schools, spoke French fluently, and studied dance, drama and music. She had a ready wit and sparkling personality that made her quite popular. She suffered from agonizing migraine headaches. Some recent historians and physicians have suggested that she suffered from schizophrenia. However, such a diagnosis would have been impossible in her lifetime, and any diagnosis at this late date cannot be certain.

She had been courted by the rising young lawyer and politician Stephen A. Douglas but was unexpectedly attracted to Douglas’ lower-status rival, and fellow lawyer, Abraham Lincoln.
They struggled in the early years but appeared to have a comfortable marriage before the pressures of public
life began to threaten her fragile mind. While she often resented his absence from their home as he practiced
law and campaigned for political office, Mary staunchly supported her husband as he faced the growing crisis
caused by American slavery. Anti-Union sentiment was very strong in Mrs. Lincoln’s home state of Kentucky,
one of the four slave states that did not secede. Many upper-class Kentuckians who were members of the social stratum into which Mrs. Lincoln had been born, supported the Southern cause.

After the assassination, Mary Lincoln would never fully recover from the traumatic experience; she became even more unhinged. Mrs. Lincoln returned to Illinois as a widow. In 1868, Mrs. Lincoln’s former confidante, Elizabeth Keckly, published Behind the Scenes, or Thirty years a slave, and four years in the White House. Although over time this book had proven to be a valuable resource
in the understanding and appreciation of Mary Todd Lincoln, the former First Lady regarded it as a breach of what she had considered to
be a close friendship. She became further isolated. For Mary Lincoln, the death of her son Thomas (Tad) in July 1871, added on top of her two other sons AND her husband, led to an overpowering sense of grief augmented by her previous history of mental instability.

In an act approved by Congress in 1870, Mrs. Lincoln was given a life pension for being the widow of President Lincoln, in the amount
of $3,000 a year.

Mrs. Lincoln’s sole surviving son, Robert, a rising young Chicago lawyer, became alarmed by his mother’s behavior as she became increasingly more erratic. Mary spent money lavishly on useless items like drapery that she never hung and elaborate dresses that she never wore, due to the fact that she only wore black after her husband’s assassination. She would also walk around the city with her $56,000 in government bonds sewed into her petticoats. Despite this largess amount of money, the $3,000 a month stipend from
Congress, and her extravagant spending, Mrs. Lincoln had persistent and irrational fears of poverty. After Mary Lincoln went into an ‘episode’ during which it was feared she would jump out of the window to escape a non-existent fire, it was determined that Mrs.
Lincoln should be institutionalized.  Fearing that his mother was a danger to herself, Robert was left with no other choice but to have
Mrs. Lincoln committed to a psychiatric hospital in Batavia, Illinois in 1875. After court proceedings Mary Lincoln was so enraged that
she attempted suicide.

In May 1875, she arrived at Bellevue Place, a private, upscale sanitarium in the Fox River Valley. With his mother in the hospital, Robert Lincoln was left with control of Mary Lincoln’s finances. Three months after being put in Bellevue Place, Mary engineered her escape.
She smuggled letters to her lawyer and his wife, who was not only her friend but also a feminist lawyer. She also wrote to the editor of
the Chicago Times, known for its sensational journalism. Soon, public embarrassments that Robert had hoped to avoid were looming,
and his character and motives were in question. The director of Bellevue, who at Mary’s trial had assured the jury she would benefit
from treatment at his facility, now in the face of potentially damaging publicity declared her well enough to go to Springfield to live with
her sister as she desired. She was released into the custody of her sister Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards in Springfield and in 1876 was once
again declared competent to mange her own affairs. The committal proceedings led to a profound estrangement between Lincoln and
his mother, and they never fully reconciled.

Mrs. Lincoln spent the next four years abroad taking up residence in Pau, France and traveled Europe. However, the former First Lady’s
final years were marked by declining health. She suffered from severe cataracts that affected her eyesight. This may have contributed
to her increasing susceptibility to falls. In 1879, she suffered spinal cord injuries in a fall from a step ladder.

During the early 1880s, Mary Todd Lincoln lived, housebound, in the Springfield, Illinois residence of her sister Elizabeth Edwards. She
died there on July 16, 1882. Age 63, and was interred within the Lincoln Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield along with her
husband.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln
www.whitehouse.gov
www.lincolnbicentennial.gov
www.abrahamlincoln200.org
www.nps.gov
picture of Lincoln 1809-1865-prague.usembassy.gov/Abraham_lincoln_200the_birthday_celebration.html

 

Major General
Charles Gordon

Charles Gordon was born on January 28^th, 1833 in Woolwich, the son of a senior
army officer. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1852. He distinguished himself in the Crimean War (1853-1856) and in 1860 volunteered
for the ‘Arrow’ War against the Chinese. In May 1862 Gordon’s corps of engineers
was assigned to strengthen the European trading center of Shanghai, which was threatened by the insurgents of the Tai Ping Rebellion. A year later he became commander of the 3,000-man peasant force raised to defend the city. Due to
Gordon, order was introduced into an ill-disciplined force. During the next 18
months Gordon’s troops played an important role in suppressing the Tai Ping
uprising. The Chinese governor conferred on him a medal of distinction and also a substantial financial gift which he declined to accept.
He was also given the rank of Ti-Ju, the highest in the Chinese army and was granted the Yellow Jacket and Peacocks Feather (now on display in the Royal Engineer Museum.)

With the Tai Ping rebellion virtually crushed, Gordon returned to England in January 1865, a Lieutenant Colonel where an enthusiastic
public had already dubbed him ‘Chinese Gordon.’

Despite his successes in China and his formidable reputation, he was given a relatively mundane appointment on his return home, improving the defenses of the River Thames and living in Gravesend. The next few years showed another side of Gordon’s complex personality. Despite having led turbulent and undisciplined groups of soldiers, not hesitating to sacrifice lives if he thought it his duty,
he has always had sympathy for suffering and a strong desire for its alleviation.

With a particular interest in the disadvantaged, his house in Gravesend became a school, a hospital and an almshouse (private establishment for housing the poor) in turn, more like the home of a missionary than that of an officer in the Royal Engineers. He rescued young people from the gutter, cleaned and clothed them and established reading classes. For many of the boys he found work on board ships sailing in and out of the Thames. So full did his classes become that his house would no longer hold them and they had to be given
up. He remained in Gravesend for six years doing his good work.

In 1871, Gordon was appointed to the European Commission of the River Danube to improve access to the river and thus allow larger vessels to load and unload at Galatz, in Rumania. Contacts made during this assignment led to his appointment, in 1874, as Governor of
the Equatorial Provinces of Egypt. His job was to establish a line of posts throughout that enormous region in order to win the confidence
of the local tribes, to promote peace and to check the deplorable slave traffic.  Despite much intrigue and many difficulties, Gordon started to make some improvements but did not make too many friends in doing so. After three years, and much wrestling with his conscience, he decided to resign and return to England. During this time he had mapped much of the White Nile, dealt the slave trade a deadly blow and restored confidence and peace among the tribes of the Nile valley. He had opened up water communications, formed government districts and established secure posts with safe communication between them.

The Tai Ping rebellion established Gordon as a military commander. The Equatorial Provinces testified to his skills as a philanthropic and practical administrator.

One reason for his resignation was that he had found it impossible to stop the slave trade completely, due to its continued encouragement in Khartoum. However, he had not been back in England for long when he received an urgent request from the Khedive appealing to him to return to Sudan and complete his work.

He agreed to do this, but only on the condition that he was appointed Governor General of the entire Sudan, free to act without being fettered by others. This condition was agreed to and in February 1877 he was back in Cairo. His task this time was to integrate the Sudan, Darfur and the Equatorial Provinces into one vast province.

He strongly resented the status and extravagant standard of living which he was expected to maintain but lost no time in re-opening his attacks on the slave traders throughout his enlarged command. This was something which he had been unable to do in his previous appointment in a smaller area.

For three years he lived in a constant turmoil of civil, political and military intrigue, carrying out his duties to the best of his ability under almost impossible conditions. His frankness and his total disregard for his personal safety made both friends and enemies for him but in
the end he could tolerate no more and resigned again, returning to England in January 1880.

While still in Bombay (now Mumbai), Gordon received an invitation to return to Peking (now Beijing) where war with Russia was threatening. He requested six months leave and when this was initially declined he requested “retirement or resignation.” Leave was
then granted on the condition that he undertook no military activities in China. His stay in there was short. He persuaded the government
to accept the Russian terms, thus avoiding was, and returned to England in October 1880.

He was promoted to Major General in March 1882.  In January 1884 Gordon returned again to the Sudan to evacuate Egyptian forces
from Khartoum, threatened by Sudanese rebels led by Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi. This was expected to involve the withdrawal of
29,000 people, a formidable task for one person.

Gordon immediately set about sending down river batches of sick and wounded, women and children, In this way, 2,500 were rescued.
But on March 12^th, al-Mahdi’s forces closed in and Khartoum was under siege. Gordon could have escaped at any time, but true to his character, he elected to stay. Defenses were built and his seven river steamers were fitted with bullet-proof plating to enable them to
run the gauntlet of enemy fire. He never relaxed in the vigor of his defense and constantly hoped for early relief. As month after month passed no steps were taken.

By December, Gordon realized that all hope of relief had gone and wrote to friends what were, in fact, farewell letters. He was supported throughout the siege, as in previous operations, by his immensely strong Christian beliefs and appeared not to be concerned at the almost inevitable fate which he faced.

The siege lasted for 317 days but on the 26^th of January, 1885 the garrison, too exhausted to make proper resistance, fell to a sudden assault and General Gordon, with host of his force, was killed. It is unknown exactly how and where Gordon died. His body was never
found. Al-Mahdi had given strict instructions that Gordon was not to be killed. His assassin was, therefore, never identified.

So Charles Gordon died, at the early age of 52, a truly remarkable and highly unorthodox man. Soldier, administrator and negotiator,
with a total disregard for his personal well-being or safety and an inexhaustible supply of kindness and compassion where these were appropriate, he deserved better of his countrymen in the last year of his life.


*Khedive means ‘lord’ in Persian-a title usually given to the governors of provinces who rule as the representative of his/her king or sovereign.

This label is GCLGS (Global Cigar Label Grading Services) certified in EX 7 condition and portrays a young Gordon. It is an unusually
large proof inner label measuring approximately (the actual label) 10 ¾” x 7 ¼” and sleeved it measures approximately 12 ½” x 8 ¼”
(does not come framed) for $200

**I got an email from a friend of labels that said this image was not Major General Charles Gordon. Unfortunately, there is not enough information about these cigar labels. It is difficult to research most of them with surety. I did some further research but it was inconclusive.  

http://www.remuseum.org.uk/biography/rem_bio_gordon.htm

---

Q and A with Tony Hyman

 

---

                      

CAROLINA FIDDLES

We were contacted recently by Steven Miller. And he introduced us to his fascinating website Carolina Fiddle. He makes fiddles out of actual cigar boxes!

Being a musician who played in various folk blues and country groups during the 1980s and 90s, Steven has always been fascinated with the blend of art and science incorporated in a good handmade musical instrument. He has been collecting pre-war Gibson instruments since the 1970s along with some other pieces. Out of necessity he learned maintenance and repairs on these fine old antiques.

As time went on, he began assembling various necks and bodies to make whimsical instruments. Out of this grew the idea to construct really good quality cigar box instruments. Steve has been building cigar box fiddles for several years now. The fiddle designs are Steve’s own ideas based on traditional violin technology. He has also made a mandolin and ukuleles.

Cigar Box Fiddles have been known since the Civil War

Wooden cigar boxes had entered commerce by the middle of the 19^th century, and provided ready material for the musician who did not have access to a store bought instrument. Cigar boxes back then were mostly made from Cedar because the aromatic wood preserved cigars and added a pleasant odor. And as it happens, Cedar is also an excellent wood for stringed instrument tops. Since most were made by musicians as a handy substitute for the real thing, existing examples are of poor quality. Not many survived since they were most likely discarded as soon as a “real” instrument was available.

Many talented musicians started with cigar box instruments. Many still play them. For example: Blind Willie Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Charlie Christian, Carl Perkins, Jimi Hendrix, George Benson, Roy Clark, Buddy Guy, Big Bill Broonzy, Eddie Lang, Josh White and Sleepy John Estes. Oh! And Steven Miller! J

Learn more about Steven and his passion at www.carolinafiddle.com
 

 

---

---

MORE LABEL NEWS è