{"product_id":"antique-n-h-embossed-cigar-label-treasures-gifts-home","title":"Antique 1910s N\u0026H Embossed Cigar Label 🌿 Gold Foil Lithograph Laurel Wreath Monogram Collectible","description":"\u003ch2\u003eWho Were N\u0026amp;H? 🌿 Antique 1910s Embossed Gold Foil Cigar Label, Laurel Wreath Monogram\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 8 3\/4\" x 6\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/18HUqdxqMF8\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e🌿 Two initials, an ampersand and a victor's crown. This embossed cigar label carries nothing but the interlaced monogram N\u0026amp;H inside a gold laurel wreath, crossed by two feathered shafts and tied with a ribbon bow, floating in a soft green haze on cream paper. It dates from the 1910s, near the end of the golden age when American cigar makers dressed their boxes in gold and raised relief, and the laurel around those letters is a symbol of honor that reaches back through Roman triumphs to the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Label\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label measures 8.75 x 6 inches, a wide cream sheet with the whole design gathered in the center. A soft green halo, shaded in fine dots, surrounds a pale circle. Inside it the letters N and H interlace into a single monogram, filled in pale green with raised gold outlines and beaded detailing, with a small ampersand tucked into the lower middle. A laurel wreath of gold-edged green leaves wraps around the monogram and is tied at the bottom with a looping gold ribbon bow. Behind the wreath two gold shafts cross, each ending in a feathered plume at the top and a banded, pointed tip at the bottom. The gold is embossed, raised up from the paper, and on the back the plain cream sheet shows the monogram, wreath and shafts pressed through in reverse. Its size is close to the 6 x 9 inch standard collectors give for an inner label, the label pasted inside a cigar box lid.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eHow the Cigar Box Got Its Labels\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wooden cigar box was a creation of the tax man. The Revenue Act of 1864 required cigars to be packed in \"boxes or bundles,\" and after cigar makers found ways around it, the laws of 1865 required wooden boxes holding 25, 50, 100 or 250 cigars, a standard package that gave federal agents a place to fix the tax stamp. With every box built to the same pattern, makers turned the box itself into advertising, with an inner label inside the lid, an outer label on top, edging strips along the raw wood, nail tags and flaps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompetition for that space was enormous. More than 1.5 million cigar brands appeared in the United States between 1870 and 1920, and roughly 80 percent of their labels came from seven printers: George Schlegel, O. L. Schwencke, Schmidt \u0026amp; Co., Witsch \u0026amp; Schmitt, Schumacher \u0026amp; Ettlinger and F. Heppenheimer's Sons in lower Manhattan, and Moehle Litho in Brooklyn, New York.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eGold, Bronze and Raised Relief\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA top-quality cigar label could run through the press a dozen times, one pass for each color. After 1890 the finest labels made extra trips for embossing and gilding. The embossing die pushed the design up into relief, which is why the back of this label shows the wreath and letters in reverse, and the gold was bronze powder brushed on and polished with a buffing wheel of the kind found at a shoe-shine stand. A label like this one, with its green shading and raised gold wreath, belongs to that last and most elaborate stage of the craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThe Laurel Wreath\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe wreath around these initials has one of the oldest stories in Western art. In Greek myth, Eros made the god Apollo fall in love with the nymph Daphne. Apollo pursued her until she begged to be freed and was turned into a laurel tree, and Apollo made a wreath from its branches to honor her, tying the laurel forever to poetry and to victory. Wreaths crowned the winners of the great Greek games, and in Rome a laurel wreath crowned a victorious general in his triumph. The idea never went away. A poet laureate is a laurel-crowned poet, \"resting on your laurels\" means living off old victories, and the laurel wreath became a standard motif in architecture, furniture and textiles, and on the embossed paper of a cigar box.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eIn the Museum\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCigar labels have long since crossed from the tobacco shop into the museum. The Metropolitan Museum of Art keeps a Louis C. Wagner \u0026amp; Co. sample book of cigar labels in its collection, a printer's own record of the designs it offered. Most of the artists who drew cigar labels remain unknown, which leaves the labels themselves as the main record of their work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat Changed\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe age of the gilded cigar label ended quickly. After 1920 the cigarette took over the market, labels became plainer and less varied, and about four out of five American cigar factories shut within ten years. The embossed monograms and gold wreaths of the 1910s were not made again in the same way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eGood For\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFraming for a study, library, den or home bar\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCigar label and tobacciana collections\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMonogram and classical-design lovers, including anyone with the initials N and H\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDisplays of early American commercial printing\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eQuestions People Ask\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat does N\u0026amp;H stand for?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe label prints only the interlaced initials N and H with an ampersand, with no name spelled out anywhere on the front or back.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow big is this label?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e8.75 x 6 inches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHow old is it?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt dates from the 1910s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy does the back show the design in reverse?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe monogram, wreath and shafts were embossed, pressed up from behind, so the back carries the same design as a raised impression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eIs the gold real gold?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe standard method for American cigar labels after 1890 was bronze powder polished on a buffing wheel rather than gold leaf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat does a laurel wreath mean?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVictory and honor. It goes back to Apollo's laurel in Greek myth, the crowns of ancient games and the triumphs of Roman generals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-jewelo-embossed-cigar-label-1900s-1920s-treasures-gifts\"\u003eAntique 1900s - 1920s Jewelo Gold Embossed Cigar Label 🚬 Americana!\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-pride-baltimore-embossed-cigar-label-1900s-1920s-treasures\"\u003eAntique Pride of Baltimore 🏛️ Geo. Schafer Cigar Co. Embossed Gold Foil Lithograph Label 1900s–1920s\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/large-antique-manila-blunts-embossed-cigar-label-1900s-1920s\"\u003eAntique Manila Blunts Cigar Label 🚩 Embossed Gold Foil Lithograph Cigar Box Art\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43352578752744,"sku":"VAG-7835951825128","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0597\/2718\/4037\/files\/il_fullxfull.3968676924_f29e.jpg?v=1785356747","url":"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-n-h-embossed-cigar-label-treasures-gifts-home","provider":"Vintage and Antique Gifts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}