I went home one weekend to talk to my mother a little more about the box that was left behind for me. What I found out was very interesting. My grandfather wasn’t much of a smoker, let alone smoked cigars. He was given the box by my grandmother on his fiftieth birthday. Majority of the time my grandfather would use the box for other things such as storing things, putting in on display, and well using it for his cigars. Originally there were two keys two the box one owned by my grandpa and the other by my grandmother, however she had last her key. My mom shared her opinion on why he left me such a thing. “He wanted to leave you with something you could physically remember him by.” That wouldn’t make sence to me until I grew older.
In hopes of finding more information on my newly owned box I did some research on my own. These are some of the interesting facts I learned about cigar boxes:
· Do to the United States Revenue Act of 1864 cigar packaging into boxes was made a legal requirement
· Majority of cigar boxes are made of “Standard Nailed Wood” which is a design that has six pieces of wood nailed to each other.
· In 1870 a law was passed allowing the use of tin a legal material for the creation of boxes.
· During the late 1800s and early 1900s cigar box art or “tramp art,” was very popular, with artist making pieces such as furniture and frames out of cigar boxes.
The cigar box has a lot of history in American culture but it is used in many different ways. I now understand a little but more on how just important a “box” can be.
Author: Justin Maciel