| Cigars were brought along during our first road trip | | | | “American Indians” were generally used by |
| through the American West. Our travel buddies were | | | | tobacco-shop owners, with smaller plaques used in |
| cigar smokers who, inspired by Clint Eastwood in | | | | general stores. |
| “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly,” brought | | | | Images of Native Americans became connected with |
| cigarillos along during our sojourn across the Mohave | | | | the sale of tobacco after American Indians introduced |
| Desert. At night we camped out, and the cigars were | | | | the plant to the Europeans who explored and settled in |
| companion accessories to the setting of cold nights | | | | the Americas. Cigar store Indian statues first appeared |
| out around the fire with the endless sky lit by a melee | | | | in Europe, once tobacco was available there. The |
| of diamond stars and surrounded by crisp, dry air | | | | wooden carvings were based on images created by |
| delicately scented by the aroma of premium cigar | | | | artists who matched descriptions, rather than first-hand |
| smoke. | | | | viewings of actual Native Americans. The figures, |
| The American West has a great tradition of cigar | | | | which most often ended up looking like Europeans in |
| consumption in the old saloons and on cattle drives. | | | | Native American dress, were clothed in fringed |
| From the turn of the 19th century when cattle and | | | | buckskins, were draped in blankets and wore |
| railroad barons played poker and spun deals in St. | | | | feathered headdresses. They did not actually |
| Louis and San Francisco, to the turn of the 20th | | | | resemble the members of any particular tribe. The |
| century when industrial giants like Henry Ford, J.P. | | | | sculptors carved chiefs, braves, princesses and |
| Getty and Andrew Carnegie found themselves | | | | maidens, sometimes with papooses. Most of the |
| influencing the century that would see two world wars. | | | | figures grasped tobacco or cigars in their hands or |
| The cigar was a companion in smoke-filled rooms and | | | | displayed leaves on their clothing. There were several |
| at secret poker tables. There was always a | | | | artists in the United States who specialized in carving |
| cigar-smoking gambler or two on stage coaches | | | | ship figureheads, architectural details and portrait busts, |
| heading west, and after that aboard club cars on | | | | then turned to creating figures of American Indians |
| transcontinental trains from New York to Chicago to | | | | full-time as demand increased. Names of note in this |
| California. Cigars do indeed have a travel history in the | | | | genre of carving are John Cromwell, Thomas Brooks, |
| American West. | | | | the Skillin family, and Samuel Robb, who operated |
| “Cigar store Indians,” originally designed as | | | | studios in Northeastern cities and put out product |
| plaques and statues representing Native Americans, | | | | catalogues. |
| became the symbol of tobacco and tobacco | | | | Modern times have called for the image of the cigar |
| advertising during the early 19th and 20th centuries. | | | | store Indian to all but disappear, but the Native |
| These statues and plaques were most often used in | | | | American will always be remembered as the source |
| stores, hotels and outside restaurants and bars to | | | | of our fine tobacco. When the occasion calls for a fine |
| signal (often illiterate customers) the availability of | | | | cigar, enjoy one--especially if you’re under western |
| tobacco, or that smoking was permitted inside the | | | | skies. |
| establishment. The complete, life-sized figures of | | | | |