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Collection complete – Tobacco Flannel

By Glenn November 16, 2014 November 16, 2014 3rdParty, Ephemera

I completed one collection recently. It is the COMPLETE collection of 1910-1915 Tobacco Flannels. These are rare, incredibly rare in fact. These were the premium options for the tobacco companies, and the redeemer had to smoke enough packs to collect enough coupons to then send in for the flannel piece.

Furthermore the ink is not waterproof, so it runs easily and can be ruined with any minor spill. What is exciting to me, is I have a complete set of Tobacco Flannels, which also means I now have a complete set of ALL tobacco related Knox College ephemera.

Whew. I can stop looking now. I have some duplicates, so I will need to think about what I am doing with those. I think at the moment that I will save them. Maybe one day I will sell them off. I will say that these flannels come up on eBay about once to twice a year. Usually in singlets, and rarely in doubles. Compared with the Tobacco Silks (which are always present) and the Card (there is only 1 paper card, and they come up several times a year) and the leathers which are also always present, the flannels are extremely rare. I am very happy to show them off. In 10 years of looking, this is the first time I have even seen 6 of these even pictured. The ability to share all of them is very exciting. You can read about the other types of tobacianna here.

The Tobacco Flannels, all 10 patterns.

1922–At old Knox, a Young Man Finds

By Glenn August 10, 2014 August 10, 2014 KnoxDocOfficial

Well, it does not come out and say the Young Man finds a little nookie and a spouse, I am sure that the subtext was not lost on the prospective students in 1923. I mean the cover, 4th bullet point is “look, there are 220 women here! Come, meet them!”

Okay, well, it may not be that obvious, but that was my first thought when I read the cover of this Knox Bulletin publication from 1922. It is an advertising piece to attract students to Knox. It sells academics, athletics, student life, and any other ideas about Knox they could throw in there. I scanned it in greyscale but I think I need to scan it again in color. It is brown and tan from age, and the grey didn’t allow for the details to come through as well as I would have liked.

Some interesting facts about Knox in here. Well worth the read, and I love love love the huge John Finley Knox Seal on the cover. It truly represented Knox at that time.

1922 – At Old Knox the Young man finds.pdf

Knox branded tobacco premiums 1

By Glenn July 15, 2014 July 15, 2014 3rdParty

The first tobacco premium on display is from 1910 (104 years old this year!) and are single silks given as premiums with Egyptienne Luxury cigarettes. These were part of the College and University Seals series and measure approximately 1.75″ x 3 1/8″. I have several of these, and are the most inexpensive tobacco premium available. The material is a silk fabric that is deep purple with gold thread.

[all images can be clicked to view the amazing details]

The existence of these premiums is one reason why I find it so important to differentiate between the John Finley Seal and the Seymour Seal; all of these have the John Finley Seal.

Also in 1910 (and a couple of years after) the American Cigarette Company gave away tobacco leathers when you bought a pack of cigarettes from mainly 4 brands of cigarettes; Mogul, Murad, Egyptienne Straights and Turkey Red. There are several different types and styles, but they all are on very soft leather that measures approximately 2″ by 2.5″. All of the leather is dyed a rich purple color with varying colors of a foil used for printing.

This is an oddity in this series. It is the only pennant shaped leather, and it has a nice border around it. It is a darker purple than the rest and it has a silver foil. I have only ever seen one of these for sale on eBay (and I was lucky enough to win it).

The only difference between these two leathers is the border around the right one. That border is original and was found on many of the leathers, not just the Knox leathers.

The main difference between these two leathers is the landscape (left) versus portrait (right) orientation of the leather. The scanner created more of a difference in color than really exists.

These two banners really do have a color difference, but I think it is age, not intentional. I have seen some leathers where the foil is completely or almost completely worn off.

Finally, the most fancy version of the leathers. These two are very different from all the rest. The impression of the seal was made with a wavy border and the name of the school is in a script font. Also, and this is very odd, the right one is the only Knox seal that is printed with silver instead of gold. The right one is rather uncommon and I will see 3 of left one to every 1 of the right one.

The silks and leathers are fairly common on eBay and usually sell for less than $10 each. Occasionally someone will be selling a couple together, but usually they are for sale as singletons. Sometimes they will have holes punched in them, where someone used them to cover something else, or sewn them onto other materials. I have never purchased any of those damaged leathers.

There is a lot of information available on Tobacco Premiums online. http://cigarhistory.info/Site/Premiums.html is the site I used the most when researching these items. All of the other sites had the same information. The next post will be some of the more uncommon Tobacco Premiums that were Knox branded.

http://cigarhistory.info/Premiums/Silks_and_Satins.html
http://cigarhistory.info/Premiums/Leathers.html

1892 – A Prairie College

By Glenn July 5, 2014 July 7, 2014 KnoxDocOfficial

Subtitled “An Eminent Frenchwoman’s Study of Co-Education in America”

This is a wonderful piece that has many Knox connections. First off, it is written about Knox, but it was also published in McClure’s Magazine in May of 1895 with the introduction written by Ida Tarbell. S.S. McClure graduated from Knox in 1882 and founded his magazine soon after, and he employed many Knox graduates including Mrs. Tarbell, Robert Finley and many more. Beyond that, it is an outsider’s look at the culture and environment that Knox had in the turn of the century.

Notice the images of Old Main, East Bricks as well as Alumni Hall.

1895 May – McClures – A Prairie College

1907 – Whiting Hall Circular

By Glenn June 1, 2014 July 7, 2014 KnoxDocOfficial

This wonderful little book details the life, expenses, and activities of a building that, while still existing, is no long part of Knox. It is all about Whiting Hall, the original Women’s dorm at Knox.

Did you know there was a bowling alley in Whiting Hall? I wonder if it still is there? I do know some of the windows of Whiting Hall still have the Knox Seal in them. Walk around and look next time as you are walking to Cherry Street.

1908 Whiting Hall Announcement.pdf