2008-2009 News from InStone Inc.
Pierre
Laclede
- Founder of St. Louis, Missouri
Little is known of Pierre Laclede Liguest’s personal history,
other than the fact that he was a native of France, and a
partner in the commercial house of Maxent, Laclede & Company of
New Orleans, for some years prior to his adventure
to upper
Louisiana in 1763-64. Nor have we much to relate concerning him
during the 14 years of his residence in his “village of St.
Louis,” as whatever documents there might have been in his or
his family’s possession at the time of his death in 1778, that
might have enlightened us have not survived.
Any information about Laclede passed on to Auguste Choteau, his
principal business companion and clerk during these 14 years
(surviving him for more than 50 years, and succeeding him in the
title of founder of St. Louis, having witnessed the erection of
its first house). No documents have been found to this day,
either in the possession of the last survivor of Choteau’s son,
still living in St. Louis, or the numerous descendants of
Laclede throughout Missouri. Consequently, whatever we may have
to say of Laclede is derived mainly from the meager facts
concerning him that are found in the archives, etc., and from
tradition.
Having completed the arrangements for his voyage to the upper
country, Laclede sailed from New Orleans on his barge, with his
family and merchandise for his Indian trade, on August 3, 1763,
and arrived at Fort Chartres, some 20 miles above Ste.
Genevieve, three months later on November 3. In leaving New
Orleans, he had contemplated landing at Ste. Genevieve, the only
settlement at that time on the west bank of the river in the
upper country. Arriving there and finding no place in which to
store goods for the winter, the village being some two miles
back from the river, he followed the suggestion of the
commandant at that post and proceeded on to Fort Chartres, where
he was kindly welcomed by Commandant M. Neyon de Viliers. He
landed his goods and prepared to spend the winter, in the course
of which he rode on horseback with a small party to Cabokia, the
uppermost village and settlement. He crossed to the west side,
explored the country to the mouth of the Missouri, and up the
stream for some distance before selecting the spot for the
location of his trading post, marking it by blazing the trees,
and returning to Fort Chartres to await the spring opening of
the river.
It was while spending the winter at Fort Chartres that news
reached there of the cession of that side of the country to
Great Britain, and many inhabitants decided to leave rather than
become subjects of that power. This suggested to Laclede the
idea of laying out a village around his contemplated trading
post, and inducing them to come over to the
west side and settle
themselves around him. It’s evident, that had the east side
remained under the subjection of France, few of those who did
come over would have. Most were natives of the soil where their
fathers had been established for a period of 80 years; they
lived in comfort and ease and would never have dreamed of
abandoning their homes simply for the purpose of crossing to the
west side and in a measure begin life anew.
The fact that St. Louis sprung up into a village in the brief
span of a year or two was the effect of cession of the east
side
to England. Otherwise, it would in all probability have been
just a trading post, with perhaps a few families scattered
around it for the next 40 years.
Laclede’s residence of 14 years in the village of his projection
was mainly devoted to the prosecution of business affairs. On
his return from a voyage to New Orleans, in the spring of 1778,
he died on his boat, near the mouth of the Arkansas River, on
June 20, and was interred in the wilderness there.
This Laclede Proof-Inner label is among the NEW items up on our
site. Please take a look at:
Pierre Laclede
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/laclede.htm
Have you read any good books lately?
A book that we feel good about recommending for those who enjoy the
cigar box label-collecting hobby is Cigar Box Labels-
Portraits of
Life, Mirrors of History by Gerard S. Petrone. If you have not
read it, you definitely should.
Dr. Petrone is a San Diego physician who, many years ago, became
addicted to tobacco advertising. This led him- as it should all
collectors-to educate himself about the genre. Fascinated with the
history of tobacco advertising, he wrote
his first book, “Tobacco Advertising: The Great Seduction,”
giving readers a general overview of promotional techniques and
gimmickry used by the tobacco industry from 1860-1930.
In “Cigar Box Labels-Portraits of Life, Mirrors of History,”
he touches upon the birth of the cigar box labels, America’s cigar
label industry and branding. He also writes about the pioneers of
stone lithography, Alois Senefelder and Louis Prang. There is
information
about the “Gilded Age” of lithography, the various
themes portrayed on the cigar labels, as well as information about making cigars in
Cuba and the Key West
Cigars.
His research took him to the Library of Congress, where he found
archives of a large collection of cigar box labels from the late
1850s
to the mid-1880s. In his book, he shares pages and pages of
these early, rare cigar box label images that showcase the truly
exemplary artwork of stone lithography. He also includes a list of
lithographers and their dates of operation to help the collector
date their labels.
The book is under 200 pages, but Dr. Petrone has packed a lot of
information, trivia, humor and history into it.
Dr. Petrone (or Jerry as we call him) usually comes to every Del Mar
Antiques Show and has been good enough to sign some of his
books for
us. You can stop by and purchase an autographed copy of “Cigar
Box Labels-Portraits of Life, Mirrors of History.” If you’re
lucky, perhaps you can even meet him there. He is a very gracious,
nice man. We hope to see him and his lovely wife at the show this
month. See “Shows” for more information.
Kathy, Mike, Jerry, Margo Kathy, Mike, Pam
& Jerry, Margo
*pictures from a past Del Mar Antiques Show
The Edison, in downtown Los Angles, is a
world-class bar located in the historic Higgins Building, built by
copper magnate Thomas Higgins and designed by famed architect A. C.
Martin in 1910. With the help of renovators Andrew Meieran and Marc
Smith, the basement of the building, which once was home to L.A.’s
first privately owned power plant, was lovingly restored into a
unique lounge.
Meieran’s love of historic properties has taken him through quite a
magnificent journey; he played a part in the restoration of historic
buildings like the Queen Anne mansion in San Francisco, the Metzer
mansion, Holy Cross Church, and the Old St. Patrick’s Church.
His
vision is to find new purpose and viability for the many seemingly
forgotten and abandoned landmarks. Since he moved to L. A. in 1998,
he has been very active in helping to restore local landmarks such
as “Mooncrest”, a 1919 Hollywood Hills home that was once home to
Charlie Chaplin and Mary Astor. His love of preserving the history
of each structure is evident; in the plush surroundings of The
Edison,
for example, he’s incorporated many of the artifacts of the
old power plant, including an original cast-iron generator. Meieran’s partner, Smith, is a Hollywood native who has owned and
operated several of that city’s hottest nightspots. Ha also seems to
have the “golden” touch when it comes to renovating, as he’s
breathed new life into such places as The Burgundy Room; Three Clubs
on Vine Street;
North on L. A.’s famed Sunset Strip; Vynyl; and most
recently, The Gopher in downtown L. A.
Sienna Reese, The Edison’s creative consultant, contacted us to
purchase beautiful cigar label images to use on some of their
signature hand-crafted cocktails. After visiting their website (www.edisondowntown.com),
we realized that our companies are a perfect match.
At The Edison,
they appreciate the quality and workmanship that went into the
creation of cigar label art, and we are proud to be associated with
an establishment that reveres the memory of a bygone era and works
to bring their appreciation to a new generation.
More About The Edison
The L. A. Times said this about The Edison: “All the sexy
vaudevillian circus that can be packed into a downtown bar.
Berlin in the 1920s. London in the swinging ‘60s. Los Angeles in
2008?”
Check it out at
www.edisondowntown.com
Higgins Building-LA
Historic Downtown Photo Gallery, California
Edison photos by permission of The Edison, Downtown L.A.
Charlie's love
of Cuba
Meeting a
customer is a always a treat for us. So we were happy to meet
Charlie and Lorraine Cruz. Charlie is from Cuba and makes family
photo albums adorned with original cigar label art. What a perfect
match!
He is a delight to talk to as he obviously loves Cuba and his
family. He has wonderful stories about his family's rich history in
Cuba and about Cuba itself. His uncle was the Ambassador to
Spain and a colorful character. We truly enjoyed meeting Charlie and
his beautiful
wife Lorraine.
These
are some pictures that they shared with us. While looking at
these pictures you'll feel like you have taken a step back in time
but
they are pictures of 20th century Cuba. Cuba has more
operating locomotives than any other country in the world.
This is a
tobacco farm in the
Vuelta Abajo region, a fertile land in the Pinar de Rio providence
in the far west of Cuba. The region is
famous for producing
the finest black tobacco in the world. And Charlie has been there!
Charlie says that family values are very important in Cuba. That is
very evident when talking with him. Most of his family is
still in Cuba
and he tries to get back as often as he can.
Thank you Charlie for sharing your beautiful pictures and wonderful
stories with us! Watch
for the next issue of the Cigar Label
Digest to read more about Charlie.
The Exotic
Pleasures of Cigar Box Art:
A Collector Discusses His Passion
by Carolyn Wiley
Behind the unassuming door of a high-tech printing plant is hidden a piece of American history captured in one of the largest vintage cigar box collections in the country.
Reprographer Rupert Knowles has had an affair with antique cigar boxes and other tobacciana for over 10 years. Fortunately, as in the days of prohibition, Knowles escorts us to his hidden speakeasy to meet his paramour.
Upon crossing the threshold, I sensed the depth of the attraction. As one would care for a cherished lover, thousands of boxes were stacked on shelves, in sacred order, in honor of their charm.
His love affair derives from the box's history, the story behind this acquisition and the fact that each box symbolizes, by its label, a unique time and event in America's past with artwork commercially unrivalled today, "That's exciting".
This one [box]
is unique, I've never seen another one like it." He tenderly
reaches to retrieve a rare box and caressingly opens it's lid.
The label presented the State of California flag in the forefront of
a Pacific harbor.
Through the deterioration of time, the beauty of its original condition was plainly evident but the keeper of the cigar wasn't always as exquisite.
Originally, cigars were sold individually, or in bundles, bunches or wheels tied up in silk ribbons with virtually no labeling. However, during the Civil War, tax laws mandated all cigars be packed in boxes for efficient counting and taxing.
Around 1860, the earliest U. S. boxes were simple. Manufacturers placed an identifying label only on one end of the box since the retailers usually displayed it with closed lids on shelves behind the counter. There was little competition and no need for ornate or inner labels. Typically, in America, a cigar was a cigar. Customers would simply ask for "a good smoke".
However, a decade later, according to Smoker's Art by Joe Davidson, the cigar smoking craze hit the one billion mark and by 1920, 8.2 billion causing thousands of small companies as well as giants to compete. With the use of molds and unskilled labor to cut costs, cigar men flooded the market with inferior cigars.
To distinguish
the differences, retailers utilized cigar counter showcases and
displayed boxes open so cigars were visible to the customer.
The open box promoted the use of brand names and graphics to attract
the smoker.
For the fifty years of the American cigar manufacturing heyday, approximately 1870-1920, there were no restrictions on what could be said or depicted on a cigar box or label aside from the tax stamping requirements. Additionally in 1878 tax restrictions that limited a box to be made only of wood and rectangular or square were relaxed, allowing for any shape or material as long as the attachment of the Federal Reserve stamp was not obstructed. Can you imagine that freedom of expression today?
"Give
thousands of people the opportunity to suddenly be as creative as
they like and the result is a revolution in product packaging that
has never been equaled, "said Tony Hyman, of the National Cigar
Museum. As a modern-day commercial printer, Knowles not only
gets it, he reverse it. With over 4,000 boxes displaying the
obsolete are of chromolithography [multi-colored stone lithograph],
he appreciates the complexities lithographers faced in their day. "
The artwork] is kind of mind boggling - how they broke down the
different colors for printing with so many different images and
[still] came up with fantastic looking images. Being able to
duplicate it today would be extremely difficult and costly, probably
tens of thousands of dollars." 
Although fine
artists still use the process, stone lithography is a dead art in
the commercial world due to time and cost constraints.
"Today with
the use of computers, it's different. It's and "I want it now"
society. Back then, it took years and years for somebody to
graduate to the talented artist that worked on carving stones and
there had to be a
team of people since one person could not do it
all," Knowles said".
Lithography is
based on the principal that oil and water do no mix. Although
the details in preparing and inking the stone for print are far
more
involved, especially around the turn of the century, the basic
process is simple.
1. The artist draws/points on the stone with a greasy substance. For example, a litho crayon is a soft waxy/greasy crayon. There are also litho paints and pencils. The stone picks up this greasy substance and holds it .
2. The stone is moistened with water. The parts of the stone not protected by the greasy paint soak up the water.
3. Oil-based ink is rolled onto the stone. The greasy parts of the stone pick up the ink, while the wet parts do not.
4. A piece of paper is pressed onto the stone and the ink transfers from the stone to the paper.
Knowles' collection consists mostly of wooden boxes in various shapes and sizes and he finds it hard to place a value on each piece. "It's all image driven," he said.
Value depends
on the age, rarity and condition of the label that box showcases as
well as the condition of the box itself. One of his favorites
is "Speed King". I like fast cars and the graphics are great.
The condition is like new".
Clearly, this affair is for better or worse, although Knowles' tobacciana collection is not limited to boxes. "I love and collect labels too, but a box sitting on a table is more artistic to me". said Knowles.
Labels have their own genre. There are rare labels that can be graded, protected in archival materials and framed for investment and the enjoyment of the fine art collector. There are also many common labels available for the populace to own a beautiful work of art and a piece of history.
Only related fascinating pieces of history, monumentally stacked in the corner of this informal museum, were actual Bavarian lime stones used to create the vintage lithographs.
These are precious stones. Bavarian limestone is no longer being quarried and is in very short supply. Weighing in at approximately 40 pounds per 12" x 15" x 2" stone, these stones represent the beginning of vintage art forms as each of the eleven stones stacked still have the etched image on their surfaces.
Bavarian
limestone is noted for its unique ability to be ground smooth for
lithography. This grinding serves to remove a previous drawing
to allow repeated
use on the stone.
Knowles fidelity to his boxes and tobacciana is commendable but the sense of a greater purpose has dawned. He has begun cataloging and photographing each precious piece so eventually, through the infinite roads of technology, he can forever immortalize his old-world passions and share it with humanity.
Mid-June
Auction on fire!
The Heritage June 13th Auction offering rare cigar label art was a
smashing success. Four labels brought over $4,000 each with lot
#70495, Leap Frog shattering its pre-sale estimate. After spirited
bidding it brought $8,962.50.
The Top Four prices realized are:
Lot # 70373 7 Up Cigar $4,182.50
Lot # 70471 Jolly Clown $5,975.00
Lot # 70495 Leap Frog $8,962.50
Lot # 70588 Yanko Spanko $7,767.50
Cigar Labels Emerge as Fine Art Collectibles
Encinitas, CA-
January 21, 2008
Take a piece of history, marry it to spectacular
artwork from a family of rarity and scarcity,
protect them from the elements and you have a
masterpiece.
With the recent implementation of the Global Cigar Label Grading Service (GCLGS) of Brighton, Michigan and the expertise of Mike Bianco, InStone Inc., Encinitas, California, this art form has materialized as an alternative savoir-faire fine art investment due to the implementation of authentication and the rarity of many quality labels.
Cigar Label Art (CLA) is being recognized for its unique beauty and rarity with artwork rivaling a Rembrandt. If you are not familiar with the crayon and stone lithography of these little masterpieces, you are missing out on some of the most imaginative commercial artwork America has ever seen.
Their content spans the field of the most notable writers, musicians, artists, entertainers, political and military figures to Indians, sports, comic strips, nudes, children, fantasy, aviation, romance, clubs and politically incorrect themes. Of the millions of images, many have been lost forever.
What used to sell
cigars themselves, cigar labels still endure as a
supreme expression of the art of stone lithography and gold embossing. They have
survived over 100 years and provide a fascinating
glimpse into an exciting time in American History,
yet they are little known to the general public,
appreciated only by a few savvy
collectors, corporations and museums.
Since the inception of the new grading service (GCLGS)
in 2006, however, new collectors are being created and sales have doubled, according to Bianco.
"It takes one whole piece out of the equation.
People know they are getting something genuine, original and that hasn’t been repaired. Now the only
thing to discuss is the rarity of the label and its
value."
Additionally, several of the more prominent
distributors and curators of CLA are concerned that
these rare pieces are not given the reverence they
deserve.
"The haphazard way
they are being cared for, by some, disrespects our
very culture," said Mike Bianco of InStone, Inc. "We
need to preserve and protect this precious art
form."
Another great benefit to GCLGS is the encapsulation
of the label in an inert polyester film approved
by the Library of Congress for use in archival
storage. It presents the label well and you no
longer have to worry about sharing the artwork
with friends or how you will store it. It is
completely protected,
according to Bianco.
This art form is dead. People like Bianco and others
help to keep it alive and raise awareness, so
that generation after generation will not be slowly
drained of the vibrant color that is their soul
and the of history and beautiful art of CLA.
InStone Inc. brings over 10 years experience
dealing, researching and analyzing CLA with the
largest inventory of quality labels in the United
States.
To inquire as to how
you can utilize and become familiar with this rare
and original art form, contact Mike Bianco
at InStone, Inc. (760) 436-3637 or
email:
labels@instoneinc.com.
Neighborhood Coin Dealer to
Nationwide Cigar Label Connoisseur
From debt to dollars and coins to art, Sid Emerson’s love of cigar label art began with a bad debt. Recently InStone Inc. had the chance to sit down with Sid and get some insight to his fascinating story:
InStone Inc.: I understand you became familiar with cigar labels because someone owed you money. Is that right?
Emerson: Yes, I was in the coin business and someone paid me their interest payment with a brown box filled with labels.
InStone Inc.: WOW! You must have been excited.
Emerson: No, not really. I didn’t know what they were back then, so I put the box under my desk and day after day, I never even thought about looking in it. I didn’t look at them again until about 7 years later when I retired from the coin business.
InStone Inc.: You retired early, didn’t you?
Emerson: Yes 55, my son asked me what I was going to do since I was still young. I didn’t want to do coins because I sold my business to my brother in law and that would put me in competition with him. I had a baseball card collection and a stamp collection that I thought I’d play with when I retired. But I told my son I wasn’t going to do anything until something “Rang my Bell.”
InStone Inc.: And cigar labels rang your bell?
Emerson: Not at first, I knew nothing about them. I finally got that box out and started looking at them. They intrigued me and I started to ask questions.
InStone Inc.: How did you get your information?
Emerson: At first, from Mark Trout, the guru of cigar labels. He actually did all the bird-dogging across the US. He took his van and traveled the roads and highways to go to the shut down factories and lithographers of the time. Some of the factories had racks of labels and they were marked with how many pieces were left. When I came across a particular label, Mark said there were only three known in existence. That’s when I realized that this was something, because in the coin business rarity was special and valuable.
InStone Inc.: The rarity drew you?
Emerson: That, the artwork and that this was the beginning. Not many people knew about them and every financial book tells you to get started with something in the beginning stages.
InStone Inc.: So it was about investment?
Emerson: In part, but mostly, I took to the labels. The artwork was spectacular and once I learned about the process and the different lithographers that created them that made them even rarer.
InStone Inc.: What about the artwork?
Emerson: Well, that’s the special thing. That is what really intrigued me and has caused me to love all the labels. The process of stone chromolithography done around the turn of the century is no longer used. The colors were spectacular, the imagery and embossing made each label an individual work of art. A chemist can take a laser needle, put it into the colors on the label, and tell you everything that is the ink. There were things in it that can no longer be used. Each lithographer has his own style. Heppenheimer and Maurer is a favorite of mine because of their longevity. Also, because you can almost look at the colors on an image and tell it was an HM because of their sharpness.
InStone Inc.: Why is that special?
Emerson: Just look at a label, take it to a printer and he will tell you he cannot recreate the vibrancy of the colors. Imagine some of the greatest artists of that time creating masterpieces to sell five-cent cigars.
InStone Inc.: Okay, so what rang your bell was the rarity and artwork.
Emerson: Absolutely, I could see this as a big giant field that nobody knew about yet. I bought a few labels from the Long Beach show because they were different and pretty. Mark then turned me on to a friend I knew from the coin business that was selling his collection. At the time, I was told it was the third biggest collection, about 3,000 pieces.
InStone Inc.: You have tens of thousands of labels today. How did you acquire them?
Emerson: Various places like shows and collectors but many came from the road trips back east. Since back east was where it all began, I made contacts with people who knew I was buying labels. Ken Nichols and I took an eight day trip back east in a half ton pickup. By the time I was done, we had a one and a half ton pickup with all the labels we got.
InStone Inc.: And you transported them safely back to California?
Emerson: Well, not at once. I stopped at my daughter’s house and unloaded some labels. She had a scale in her garage and as we took the labels off the truck, we weighed them. In total, it was about 1800 pounds. Ken and I got back on the road but the weight was still too much. The truck was fishtailing back and forth so I went back to my daughter’s house to unload more and she brought those labels to me on her next summer trip to California.
InStone Inc.: You believe that strongly in them then.
Emerson: Labels open themselves up more, by far, to the world of art then any other collectible ephemera and they are so much rarer. Years ago when we set up at the Rose Bowl, George Hamilton, the actor stopped at our booth. A cigar smoker, himself, he was intrigued by the labels.
InStone Inc.: Tell me about the Rose Bowl years.
Emerson:
There’s not much to tell. It was kind of a crazy
place, people with orange hair and big earrings but
it was fun. We set up there for about six or seven
years. George Hamilton, the actor and cigar smoker,
stopped
by our booth and was intrigued by the
labels. We started about 20 collectors and I sold
about 300 Joe Davidson
books just educating people
on the labels. But what was really interesting was
at a show in Arcadia a very distinguished gentleman
came up to our table. He just smelled like a
successful man. He looked at the labels and asked,
“Do you want to know what’s wrong with these.” Of
course, I said yes. He said, “What’s wrong with
these, the only thing wrong with these is that
nobody knows about them. And he was right. Less
than 1% of people even know of their existence.
These are historic pieces of great art created with
every subject matter
known to man. What is there
not to believe? When the awareness is raised, more
and more people will
appreciate their beauty and
rarity, I see it happening everyday.
InStone Inc.: What was your favorite label when you first began and is it different now?
Emerson: The label I took to at first because of the vivid image and the monetary theme was “Paid in Full”. It is still one of the biggest door openers today. Now, though, one of my favorite labels is “Club House”. It’s such a peaceful looking place. I can just picture this old man relaxing up in one of the rooms.
InStone Inc.: Old, bah! You’re still young so tell me young man, generally, what qualities do you look for in a label?
Emerson: Well, for the public, just getting started, I like to keep to the liquid labels such as the ones in the InStone 100. Even though I don’t like to promote these totally as an investment, since they are more fine art, it is sometimes important for a client to know that they can purchase a label today and if they need to sell it in a couple months or years, the chance is great that they can get their money back, if not more. For myself I now gravitate to the older more rare labels. I like a full image and images that look more like art such as “Council of War” or “Banquet Hall Bouquet”. But again, it’s the rarity that is the one factor why I’m sold on the success of these labels.
InStone Inc.: You do nothing else besides labels now, right?. What do you foresee for the future?
Emerson: I love the whole thing. It’s massive and has so much room to grow. The more you get into this thing the more you see how deep and massive it is. I concentrate on finding the great images, really old and rare Flagships dealerships, such as InStone Inc. will stand the test of time. With honest and knowledgeable people, like Mike Bianco, we haven’t seen anything yet.
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