tobacciana – Archives West

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.

Knox branded tobacco premiums 2

By Glenn July 20, 2014 July 15, 2014 3rdParty

Last week I showed you some of the more inexpensive tobacco premiums, and today I have some of the very rare and expensive premium items to show you. It appears that in 1914 the tobacco companies stepped up their game and created some more expensive items. All of the premiums today are from Murad Cigarettes.

For example, instead of using silk or leather, they produced one series that was on paper. [click on any image to see details]

This was called the “Duck Hunter” and is printed double sided on a heavy card stock. The ink and foil combination is very well printed with no bleeding or other signs of sloppiness in production. The foil makes it very hard to make out, but around the outside it says “Murad” in purple behind the sparkly gold. Because of the foil / sparkles no scan came out well. Sorry about that. The card is just under 2 3/4 in by 2 1/8 in in size. This card is identified as a T51 card and is part of the “College Series” which was composed of the following cards.

As you can see, Knox was only one of 150 colleges represented. Why they chose a duck hunter for Knox’s image is anyone’s guess.

Finally, we have the most fancy tobacco premiums, the felts. I have to admit, I do NOT have the complete collection of these. These felts were rare in 1914, and today they are extremely rare. I have 4 of the 9 sports.* I know for a fact I am missing hockey and tennis. I have seen both of these come up for auction and passed on the $70 price tag only to have someone else get them. They measure 3 in by 4 1/2 in plus the fringe sewn on top on bottom.

You have to look at these large and see the detail in them. Knox was one of only 15 colleges that were represented on the felts. That brings to mind why only 15, and what was going on in the US to make Knox so well known that it was one of 15 that people would seek out. Very interesting.

That is all the tobacco premiums that I know of connected to Knox. I can’t see Knox agreeing to this now or anytime in the recent past, but in 1910 – 14 it was a different time and I am sure the advertising helped Knox just as much as it did Murad cigarettes.

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* The info on 9 sports and 15 schools came from here: http://cigarhistory.info/Premiums/Felts_and_Flannels.html

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