Latest Craze Cigars, Salesman Sample

"Latest Craze" captures the Victorian obsession with Japanese aesthetics in vivid chromolithographic splendor. This cigar box label salesman sample from the mid-1880s depicts a Western woman costumed as a geisha, complete with elaborate kimono, folding fan, and traditional hair ornaments. The soft pink and chartreuse palette, accented with gold embossing, exemplifies the finest work of Louis E. Neuman & Co., one of New York's premier lithography houses. Salesman samples like this were carried in portfolios to show cigar manufacturers the available designs, making them considerably rarer than production labels. The complete pricing information at bottom adds historical documentation: $25 per thousand for inside labels, $15 per thousand for outside labels. This piece bridges the worlds of commercial ephemera and fine decorative arts, offering a window into how American businesses capitalized on the Japonisme movement that enchanted the Gilded Age. Size: 5.5" x 8.0" Condition: Very Good