Collecting tobacco-related vintage and antiques, broadly called tobacciana, is a big niche in the collecting world. Those that collect vintage tobacco tins would love to get their hands on the Lorrilard tin in this week’s fresh to market vintage. What else do tobacciana collectors collect? Ashtrays, lighters, antique flannels, advertising cards, advertisements, tin store signs, store displays, humidors, pipes, cigar cutters, cigar boxes, cigarette packs and all sorts of promotional products. Tobacciana is a wide world of treasures to seek.
Where did the -ana suffix come from in collecting categories like tobacciana, breweriana, or Disneyana? From the Latin, of course, meaning “pertaining to.” In the 1600s, it was used in the titles of books that were collected ideas, sayings and anecdotes of famous people. In the 1800s, it expanded to describe objects, books or memorabilia associated with a person or place, like Americana and Shakespeariana. After collecting as a hobby boomed in the 1900s, it came into common use for categorizing groups of ephemera. For vintage lovers and sellers, it is a very useful suffix.
There are other things besides tobacciana in this week’s fresh to market vintage. Time to take a look…
Heidi Daus Cocktail Ring
If you happen to enjoy colorful blingy jewelry, you may be familiar with Heidi Daus and her line of jewelry for HSN (Home Shopping Network). Her jewelry career started many years ago, but when she partnered with HSN in 2003 her sparkling and bold pieces really took off. This ring is from one of those HSN collections. Her jewelry is known for its high quality and vintage inspired designs with loads of color. This ring embodies her look without being to ostentatious.
Amethyst, Amber, & Lime Cocktail Ring, $49.95
Pam, Vintage Renude
Lorillard “Tiger Sweet Tobacco” Tin c 1930s
Founded in 1760 in the Jersey City district of NYC, P. Lorillard Co. is the oldest tobacco manufacturer in the United States. In 1883, the company reported over $83 million in sales from 4000 workers who produced 25 million pounds of tobacco-related products. This is a staggering thought, considering the typical working conditions of that time. I was pleased to learn, while researching this tin, that, in addition to a unique approach to advertising, the Lorillard team was focused on fair hiring practices and employee education, as evidenced by this article on the New Jersey City University website. A major corporation that was way ahead of its time.
Lorillard “Tiger Tobacco” Lunch Box Tin, $45
Linda, Selective Salvage
Vintage Buttons in a 1970s Tang Jar
Get two things at once! A pound and a half of vintage neutral colored buttons of all kinds in a 1970s Tang jar. (Tang is a powdered orange drink mix that was a staple in homes in the 60s and 70s because it went to space on the NASA Gemini and Apollo missions.) The buttons are a range of colors from white to ivory to cream to ecru to beige in a mix of sizes, materials and styles. The jar is embossed with a boy fishing. Tang put out a promotional set of jars for the four seasons that could be used as canisters, or, in this case, button jars.
Tang is still available today, and I’m sure it’s very nice. But it will never taste as good as it did when you were drinking it while watching the first moon landing.
Neutral Button Assortment in a Tang Jar, $45
Laurie, NextStage Vintage
1970s Libbey La Femme Cooler Glasses
In the late 1970s, Libbey Glass introduced two spicy patterns on cooler glasses: La Femme, shown above, and L’Homme, which featured an equally naked flexing muscle man. They’re a departure from what a vintage lover might expect from Libbey, but who could fault a glass company for having a sensuous moment in the 1970s.
Cooler glasses, also known as collins glasses, are tall cylinders made for beverages for which ice is an important element like iced tea or alcoholic beverages that involve a little liquor and a lot of mixer. Serving a Tom Collins or a rum and Coke in a cooler makes it more refreshing by a factor of two. Drinks that involve a slice of fruit or a maraschino cherry get extra credit for eye appeal. Summer was made for cooler glasses, and there are few cooler glasses cooler than these La Femme beauties.
Set of Four Late 1970s Libbey La Femme Glasses, $55.
Available from this week’s guest, Rare Dame Studio
It’s always nice to be able to find a thread that ties things in fresh to market vintage together. This week it’s simple: imagine yourself drinking an icy sip of Tang from a Libbey La Femme glass while wearing the Heidi Daus cocktail ring. We can’t think of anything we’d rather spend an afternoon doing.
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If you’re interested in seeing more about vintage tobacciana, the Antique Advertising Association of America has a post by Jeremy Blum with excellent photos.
