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Antique La Flor de General Arthur Cigar Box – Victorian Tobacco Advertising
A wonderful survivor from the era when cigar boxes were miniature works of advertising art. This antique wooden cigar box bears the La Flor de General Arthur name and features a large portrait of General Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States, surrounded by elaborate floral illustrations and decorative borders.
The colorful interior lid label is especially appealing, with a second portrait of Arthur, flowers, and illustrated medal designs. The exterior includes the original-style blue patterned border and CLARO side label.
Part of a federal tobacco revenue stamp survives along the side of the box, and the underside bears factory markings identifying a New York tobacco manufacturing district.
The combination of presidential imagery, elaborate period graphics, and surviving tax and factory markings makes this an appealing piece for collectors of:
- Antique cigar boxes and tobacco advertising
- Victorian and Gilded Age advertising
- American presidential memorabilia
- Antique lithography and printed ephemera
- General store and mercantile collectibles
- Historical packaging and advertising art
The box is empty and shows visible wear from age, as photographed. It has wonderful character as a surviving piece of American advertising history.
