Cigar Store Indians

Cigar-Store Indians were designed to capture the attention of the people walking by to inform them that tobacco was sold inside. It is said that the average cigar smoker in America in the late 1800s couldn't read the sign, "Tobacconist Shop.” Visual trade signs were essentially stand-ins for written sign-posts that might have been incomprehensible to potential customers, many of whom were immigrants. America was quickly becoming a social melting pot of people with diverse origins, the average nineteenth-century American resident lacked a shared common language, and so the sidewalk Cigar Store Indian was vital for business. Thus, the Cigar Store Indian came about largely due to necessity but also due to its particular grandeur and style, is still famous today. The bulk of the early Cigar Store Indians were carved on the eastern seaboard or midwestern cities by artisans who most likely never encountered a Native American; the figures appear to be white men in native garb. As time passed the American entrepreneurial spirit adapted as did the Cigar Store Indians with it. Some innovative tobacco sellers sought unconventional images for their trade signs to set them apart from the more established merchants. Suddenly a new market sprang up - Cigar Store Indian carvers competed among themselves for the various tobacconists' business, attempting to "one-up" one other in individuality, versatility and depth.

The wide range of Cigar Store Indians is astounding. Traditional Cigar Store Indians are in many forms: sculpted Indian chiefs, braves, princesses and Indian maidens, sometimes with boarded papooses. Most of these displayed some form of tobacco in their hands or on their clothing. Today, the best of the wooden Cigar Store Indians antique sculptures sell for as much as $100,000.

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