I have this old cigar box...

[DWC]

I have this old cigar box that I'm looking for information about. It was gifted to me by an antique dealer friend that knows I smoke and he had no use for it. It doesn't fit his business genre.

The top of the box is embossed with "The Todd Protectograph Co." The "Tobacco imported from Cuba" customs stamp is marked Series of 1913.

The bottom is embossed with "Custom Bonded" "made in No. 2, class 6" (? 8 maybe) "Manufacturing Warehouse" "Marcelino Perez & Co." The rest of the embossed fine print is legal crap about not reusing the box or stamp for cigars again. "50".

"Boite Nature" embossed on the ends of the box.

I've found info about Todd Co. protectograph online. It was a check writing security device that embossed the dollar amount on checks so they couldn't be altered.

And the Marcelino Perez. Co was out of Tampa Fla. turn of the century.

My question is why would a cigar box have a different company logo on it? Did companies of old used to use cigars as promotional/advertising items?

And any other additional information would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Dan

[gigabyte056]

Hi,

From what I could find the company is indeed a company which produced check printing machines, no 2 class 6 is the customs bonded warehouse where these were manufactured,assuming since it was cuban tobacco they wanted it to be manufactured directly within a bonded area rather than transport it out of customs control,

Another thing I found is that companies used to give away boxes of cigars to employees, clients etc.

Marcelino Perez & Co is a cigar company which produced these cigars under various brands (see referance here: http://greenspotantiques.com/wooden-tuval-marcellino-perez-and-co-cigar-box ) this is another box under the brand TUVAL.

[DWC]

Thanks for the additional info. The bit about companies gifting cigars to employee, clients, etc was what I was missing. I couldn't connect a 'protectograph' with a box of smokes.

Then I rembered a bit about H. Upmann and did some reading. They started as a banking firm and the president was quite a bit of a cigar enthusiast. He gifted boxes of Cubans to clients etc. He saw a double opportunity and opened a branch in Cuba and eventually bought into a tobacco interest.

Dan