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CIGAR BOX LABEL COLLECTION
Some 85,000 cigar box labels form a special part of The John and Carolyn
Grossman Collection of Antique Images. They represent American, Canadian, Cuban and European lithographic companies. Major
New York firms are American Lithographic Co., Heppenheimer & Maurer, Heywood Strasser & Voight, Krueger & Braun,
Louis E. Neuman, George Schlegel, O. L. Schwencke, Schmidt & Co., Schumacher & Ettlinger, William Steiner, Louis Wagner
& Co., and Witsch & Schmitt. Other major American lithographers include Cole Litho. Co. (Chicago) and George S. Harris
(Philadelphia). Major foreign firms include German printers Gebruder Klingenberg (Detmold), Gebruder Weigang (Bautzen) and
Hermann Schott (Rheydt).
The cigar label collection also contains approximately 5,000 related items: cigar bands,
cigar boxes, embossing dies, lithographic stones, progressive proof books and proof sheets. In addition, there are more than
200 original watercolor "sketches" for cigar label art by commercial artists Henry Maier, John Fitz, William Momberger
and Carl Mummert.
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THE SCHLEGEL COLLECTION
The Schlegel Collection
contains one of the most complete representations of cigar box label production by a single American lithographer, George
Schlegel Lithographing Co. (1849-c.1960). Its contents document the creative output of this historically significant New York
printing firm that was owned and operated by four generations of German businessmen. Original label art, keyline drawings,
progressive proofs, lithographic stones, cigar bands, office file and shop file labels, title certificates, title folders,
title registration cards, bills of sale and letters of correspondence between Schlegel employees, clients and jobbers comprise
this special collection.
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THE WORCESTER COLLECTION
This special collection
contains greeting cards, fancy scrap, lace paper, original production art and business documents related to the greeting card
industry in and around Worcester, MA during the later half of the 19th century. It documents an early chapter in the development
of a greeting card industry in America and indicates a working relationship between two Worcester businessmen: George C. Whitney,
a Valentine manufacturer, and E. A. Timme, a printing die maker. Researching, organizing and conserving this collection represents
a six-month internship performed by Judy Baletka while attending John F. Kennedy University's Museum Studies Program (Berkeley,
CA).
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REFERENCE LIBRARY
Our reference library is
an important support facility for the collection. With more than 1,600 titles, it is a constant source of research information
as well as design and product inspiration. Major sections include Art, Architecture, Ephemera, Graphic Arts, Tobacco and Victorian
Culture.
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