Cigar Box Label "Cigarros Primeros" - Not Actual Cigars

As with many examples of vintage ephemera, cigar-box labels started to become commonplace in the middle of the 19th century, when chromolithography made it inexpensive to print a handsome label that could be glued to a cigar box. Some of these labels employed more than 20 colors, which were printed one at a time on sheets of plain or satin-finished paper, which was often embossed later. Indeed, cigar-box labels were so painstakingly designed in the late 1880s that one New York newspaper observed that the “label is often better than the cigar.” Brand names from the late 1800s to the early 1900s include Omar, Tip Top, Walt Whitman, Young Giants, and 6 for 25¢, which was also the price of these oddly named cigars. Usually, the subject matter of the label related to the brand name. For example, Zep cigar labels featured a zeppelin hovering above a globe showing the airship's route from Germany to New York, while cigars named after popes and presidents generally featured portraits of these religious and political leaders. While most cigar-box labels lack dates, you can tell how a label was printed, which can be used to date it. If you hold a magnifying glass up to a label and notice that the color is really created by countless tiny dots, then you are certainly looking at a 20th-century label, but if the image appears to be made by an artist’s hand, it is probably 19th century. As for those labels that were deemed better than the cigars they advertised, fancy papers and embossing were not used prior to 1880. (Collectors Weekly)

Actual Cigar Box Label or Remainder - Not Actual Cigars