Rare Cigar Label Art Dealer
 

Major Si Bass (U.S. Army Retired) presented a nicely appointed cigar label booth for the first time at this Del Mar Antiques Show. Major Bass displayed many labels not previously seen at this show. The author of several books (Patriotic Cigar Label Art, Spanish American War) and articles on this subject, Si was happy to sign copies of his books and to share his vast knowledge with visitors to his booth.

The InStone booth with Mike and Mury along with the Emerson Intrinsics display were quite active. We had people stopping to tell us about their own collections and the collections owned by people they know. There were also a few visitors who just wanted to see what all the action was about. Once they looked at the beautiful images, a few were intrigued enough to start a collection.

Speaking of collections, Dr. Russel Buzard from Escondido came to the show with his beautiful wife, Trish, and a binder full of their domestic cat labels. It is so hard to find new cats for his collection that the good Dr. has started accumulating medical themes. He will soon find out, if he hasn’t already, these labels are even more rare than his cat collection!

Another author-collector, Dr. Gerard Petrone visited the InStone booth and signed several of his “Cigar Box Labels-Portraits of Life, Mirrors of History” books. Dr. and Mrs. (Pam) Petrone are always upbeat and have a lot to share with us.

Auctioneer, coin dealer and antiques dealer Jim Hill along with his son, James came by the Cigar Label booths and shared their knowledge and excitement. Jim has had cigar labels for at least 30 years. Recognizing their beauty and value, Jim was one of the first California buyers of cigar labels when Mark Trout brought them back from his road trips back east.

Cigar label dealers Robert Booth (Hollywood), Nick Buzolich (Irvine), Doug Clements (Fallbrook), Brad Norris and sons (Rancho Santa Fe), Julie and John Kreitzer (Escondido) and Bob Purdue (Temecula) were also present at this event.