Sex And The Cigar Box
July, 1994
While many vintage cigar-box labels immortalized masculine themes such as dogs, guns, sports and celebrities, it was the voluptuous image of the late-19th-century female that invariably caught the eye of the smoker. Nothing subliminal about it, either. In those pre-humidified days, cigar boxes were displayed on countertops with their lids open. They were mini-billboards, ready to snag the consumer. Eager for a hand-rolled smoke, which would you gravitate toward--a cigar box showing Johnny Apples...
