"A picture is worth a thousand words." There is no better description for what the art of the cigar box label did for sales of cigars from the mid 1800s through the 1930s. Busty women, heroes, impish children, sports icons, composers, all these and more found their way into the advertiser's art. The makers would change labels at the drop of the hat if they thought it would help sales. This new book shows hundreds of the finest examples from the world's largest private collection of cigar box label art, revealing the imagination and creativity of the printers and lithographers of the period. Each is shown in a beautiful, full color photograph and is accompanied by a description with a current value on the collector's market. This is a visual delight, sure to please cigar aficionados, but also to be much valued by collectors, designers, and students of advertising history. And it makes a great gift for the smoker in your life!

With over 470 full-color photographs of labels from cigar boxes and a complete price guide, this book is a treasury of advertising images. Fair maidens, stylish and sedate or with a sensuous display of cleavage, are partnered with those ne'er-do-wells, railroad magnates, and political wizards of the male gender in a grand introduction to American mass marketing. Cigar box label art is a true American art form, designed to grab the buyer by the tail of his coat and spin him around, see-gar in hand, ready to buy again. The magic has not gone away! Take a look for yourself.