My Cigar Labels

The items people can collect are immeasurable. It can be anything from collecting stamps, coins, shot glasses up to extravagant items such as cars and airplanes. Items that people collect are telling of their personality. Collecting cigar labels most likely implies that the person collecting it enjoys art and history. You don’t necessarily need to like cigars to collect the labels. Labels from the seventeen through nineteen hundreds contain historic art that can be difficult to find, so it is naturally an item people want to get their hands on. With some collections, people choose to donate to museums for display to the public where the items are taken care of on a regular basis and have a purpose.

Cigar labels were first introduced on the market in the seventeen hundreds and people have been collecting them from the beginning. A large majority of them are just garbage especially since they are so readily available and can be made right from peoples homes, but there are still the cigar “gems” that are worth keeping and collecting.

The art on the labels have just about anything on them from animals to nature scenes to sexy women. The artists generally stayed unknown but still captivated cigar buyers with their beauty. They started at a perfect time when advertising was beginning to take off.

If you are interested in starting a cigar label collection, there are a few things you should know. The first thing you should decide is the brand you would like to collect or what type of images you are interested in. Cigar labels that have a theme are among the most valuable collections. You should also decide if there is a time period in which you would be most interested in collecting from. Any labels that date before 1920’s have the most value. Labels that have a gold leaf came from Europe.

Do your research. It is easy to be conned into thinking a label is more valuable than it is. There is a difference between out and inner cigar box labels and if you don’t know what that means you should find out.

As is the rule with just about anything, the rarer it is, the more value it will have and should be in good condition free of tears and wrinkles.

You can purchase labels at places including but not limited to the internet, at auctions or at antique stores. Good luck collecting!