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Images of women—classical, aristocratic, or "girl-next-door"—were
used to attract male buyers to many cigar brands—some of the earliest retail
goods to do so.
Today these labels provide clues to women's costume and public standards
of beauty a century ago, perhaps extending even to notions of proper and
naughty, wholesome and alluring. At least one label makes a statement about
women's long road to equality in education in Canada. But some make us wonder,
"What is this about?"
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FLOR DE CLARO
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 38 Port 10-D Series C
Likely H. Simon & Sons, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2001.185.38 Tony Hyman Collection |
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PEBBLE
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 1 IRD 10 Series of 1915
J. Bruce Payne, Granby, Que.
CMC 2003.46.18 |
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UNION STAR
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 3 IRD 6 Series of 1897
A. Isaacs, St. John, N.B.
CMC 2001.185.7 Tony Hyman Collection |
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ARABELA
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 6 Port 50-E Series C
General Cigar Co. Ltd., Toronto, Ont.
CMC 2001.185.44 |
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DOROTEA
Trimmed nailed wood box (100)
Montreal Division (M3) Series of 1880
Unknown maker, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2004.122.5 |
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DRUMMER
Trimmed nailed wood box (100)
Factory 1 IRD 13 Series of 1883
Possibly Savage & McCanna, Granby, Que.
CMC 2004.122.4 |
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IDEAL
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 9 Series of 1897
Nap. E. Godin, Tabacconiste en Gros, Trois-Rivières, Que.
CMC 2004.38.15 |
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IRMA
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 38 IRD 17 Series of 1897
H. Simon & Sons, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2003.46.5 |
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SHE THAT'S ALL
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 2 Series of 1897
Geo. A. McGowan, Kingston, Ont.
CMC 2004.122.3 |
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SWEET ROSE
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 3 IRD 8 Series of 1897
B. Houde & Co., Quebec City, Que.
CMC 2003.46.23 |
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THE MAGNET
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 11 IRD 32 Series of 1897
Wm. Ward, London, Ont.
CMC 2005.41.12 |
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THE QUEEN
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 10 Series of 1883
Webster Nutter & Co., Sherbrooke, Que.
CMC 2004.38.48 |
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VARSITY
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 6 IRD 17 Series of 1897
S. Davis & Sons, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2003.46.58
When this cigar box was new, Canadian women had only had the
opportunity to wear a mortarboard for some 25 years. In 1875, Mount Allison
University in Sackville, New Brunswick became the first Canadian university
to accept female students; its first woman graduate, Grace Annie Lockhart
was the first from any Canadian university. Eight years later, Dr. Augusta
Stowe Gullen became the first woman to graduate in Medicine from a Canadian
university, Victoria College in Cobourg, Ontario.
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YOU KNOW
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 1 IRD 20 Series of 1897
Possibly Ottawa Cigar Factory (1907–15), Ottawa, Ont.
CMC 2003.46.32 |
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LA FAROSA
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 7 IRD 10 Series of 1915
Eastern Townships Cigar Co., Sherbrooke, Que.
CMC 2004.38.43 |
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GAINSBOROUGH
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 25 IRD 17 Series of 1897
Tuckett's, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2004.38.5 |
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ROSA ROYAL
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 31 Series of 1897
The Latonia Cigar Co., Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2004.38.11 |
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NYMPHS & SATYR
Trimmed nailed wood box (10)
Factory 1 IRD 32 Series of 1885
Likely O. E. Brener, London, Ont.
CMC 2004.38.69
The painting of wood nymphs playfully urging a satyr into the
water is by French Academic artist, Adolphe William Bouguereau, who first
displayed it at the Paris Salon in 1873. Since then it has been in the
United States—in private collections, in a New York City bar, and currently
at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The painting has
been reproduced as a popular print and as an image on plates, bathroom tiles
and early cigar boxes.
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CUPID'S WEB
Trimmed nailed wood box (10)
Factory 19 IRD 17 Series of 1897
Likely V. Forest, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2003.46.106 |
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MIZPAH
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 16 IRD 32 Series of 1897
Sam. R. Manness, London, Ont.
CMC D-13693 |
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SMACKS
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 3 IRD 17 ca. 1883
Likely T. J. Winship, Montreal, Que.
CMC 2001.185.6 |
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PHARAOH
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 1 IRD 10 Series of 1897
J. Bruce Payne, Granby, Que.
CMC 2003.46.55 |
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LADY ASHLEY
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 8 IRD 28 Series of 1897
The Berlin Cigar Co., Berlin, Ont.
CMC 2005.41.10 |
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FAIRY QUEEN
Trimmed nailed wood box (100)
Factory 3 IRD 6 Series of 1897
A. Isaacs, St. John, N.B.
CMC 2004.38.26 |
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FLORA BELLE
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 1 IRD 31 Series of 1897
H. B. Gardner, Brantford, Ont.
CMC 2005.41.6 |
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MILO
Trimmed nailed wood box (50)
Factory 2 IRD 22 Series of 1915
Geo. A. McGowan, Kingston, Ont.
CMC 2004.122.14 |
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