A piece of tobacco history, rarely found today: This antique wooden cigar box once held fifty cigars of the brand LA SOCIEDAD in the Castelares format. Its surface has been worn down to the wood by a hundred years of use—yet the lid still closes as tightly as on the first day.
The special feature is the printing: The drawing on the lid is an embossed lithograph, slightly raised, clearly palpable to the touch. Spanish royal coat of arms, golden exhibition medals—including the World's Fair in Paris—plus the ribbon with the inscription Cigarros Primeros. Inside, the real surprise: a colorfully fresh chromolithograph label with two founder portraits in golden ovals, palms, and a harbor with lighthouse fortresses. No sunlight has ever reached this inner image.
Details
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Material: Wood, most likely cedar wood (Cedro)
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Dimensions: 24.5 cm long × 16 cm wide × 7 cm high
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Inscription: La Sociedad · Fábrica de Tabacos · Castelares · Claro · 50 · Guarantee seal "Flor Fina, Calle de Mochuelo No. 8"
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Printing: Embossed lithograph on the lid, chromolithograph on the inside of the lid
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Lid: hinged with original fabric strip, closes perfectly
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Age: estimated around 1900 (approx. 1890s to 1920s); exact dating is not possible without factory records
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Condition: heavily worn. Paper loss and tears on edges and corners, crack through the lid label, fabric strip on the back exposed, inner paper partially missing, stains. Wood healthy, box sturdy, lid tight, inner lithograph almost perfect
Use
On the desk for pens and letters, on the shelf as a collector's item, but most beautiful with the lid open—so the inner label is visible.
Origin and Shipping
Found at the flea market in St. Pölten, Lower Austria, from the dissolved tobacco container collection of a collector. Shipping from Austria, carefully packaged. The price is for 1 piece.
St. Pölten. A whole table full of wooden and tin tobacco boxes, a lifetime's collection, sold in one morning. This one had crossed an ocean before it ever came to Austria. Outside, it's worn down to the wood; inside, where no one ever had to pick it up, it's still pristine.
Havana gold, worn by hands — things with soul · VintageAustriaShop
