Home Entertainment Before the Phonograph

 

QUESTION: I have a Gem Roller Organ that has been in my family for some time.  It spent the last few years in the attic.  The bellows seem to be working and the keys respond to the pins, but it has stopped playing.  What can you tell me about it? Also, can it be repaired?

ANSWER: You’ve got one of the original Gem Roller Organs produced by the Autophone Company of Ithaca, New York.  Since it’s intact and in relatively good condition, it most likely needs cleaning, which you should have done by a professional who works on music boxes and gramophones.

In 1884, the Autophone Company developed a hand-cranked roller reed organ which operated by forcing air out through reeds under pressure with exposed bellows. The musical notes were traditionally represented by wire bridges or staples, which were formed by hand according to the length of each note and inserted at the correct location around the circumference of the barrel. As the barrel was turned, the projections operated a valve mechanism to admit air into the musical pipes or reeds.

The company named its most common and least expensive one, a vacuum-operated model, “The Gem Roller Organ.” It was basically a 20-note suction-operated reed organ in a light wooden table-top case measuring 14.5 inches wide, 12 inches deep, and 8 inches high, and weighing 6.5 pounds.

The roller consisted of a solid wood cylinder measuring a little over 6 inches long and nearly 2 inches in diameter. It had a mounting hole with a metal bushing at each end, and an offset drive hole at the left-hand end. Tiny pins, standing .05 inches above the surface of the roller, resulted in 110 pins per revolution. 

The roller made three complete turns per tune, with the pins arranged on a spiral path of .10 inch pitch. The physical length of each tune equaled 16.5 inches or 330 pins, creating a playing time of about 40 seconds, giving an effective "roll speed" of only 2 feet per minute and a time resolution of 8 pins per second. The mechanical alignment needed to be precise at this speed, as timing errors from bent pins or pallets were very noticeable.

The company produced over 1,000 different rollers, containing a broad selection of religious, military, operatic, and music-hall tunes that were popular from the 1880s through the 1890s.

Autophone mounted the roller, drive mechanism, and pallet valves on cast-iron brackets on the top front section of the case. Workers mounted the brass reeds on the inside of the sloping panel, directly behind the pallets. They mounted the pumping bellows or feeders in the lower section of the case, with the reservoir at the top rear. Black rubberized “bellows cloth” covered the rear section of the reservoir which moved up and down as the instrument plays

The roller organ had an ingenious drive mechanism that was both simple and effective. Two short horizontal shafts held the roller between them and an arm drove it at its left-hand end. The springs on the support shafts pushed the roller towards the left, allowing it to travel .30 of an inch to the right as the tune progressed 

After two more turns, the flattened pin attached to the roller shaft reached the tab on the forked arm, just as the tune came to its end. With another turn of the crank, the pin pressed downwards on the arm, which in turn pushed the roller frame forward clearing  the keys. The forked arm then pulls the roller frame rearward and engages the driving worm, ready to start again. Multiple verses of a song or hymn can be played continuously just by continuing to crank.

The lower ends of the keys were bent upwards to engage with the pins on the rollers. The pins pushed the keys about .040 of an inch, amplified by the lever arms into a  movement at the pallets. The keys oscillated slightly as a succession of pins passed, giving a tremolo effect to the longer notes.

A set of 20 brass reeds, mounted in a wooden block attached to the inside face of the sloping front panel, immediately behind the pallet valves, produced the music. Air entered through the slots in the front face when the pallets were lifted, passing through the reeds into the reservoir, and out through the feeder bellows underneath.

The reed block, machined from a solid block of wood, measured 1.75 inches high by 7 inches long. The roller organ had no soundboard. The sound radiated directly from the reeds and through the pallet openings. The music box had no way to control the volume.

The roller organ’s design placed the lower notes in the upper section of the block, so that the greater leverage of the longer keys would give a greater opening distance and a less-restricted air flow.

The Gem Roller Organ used conventional American organ reeds which had flat tongues and produced a strong sound. These produced a musical scale of 20 selected notes over 3 octaves. All instruments using the same-size rollers used the same scale, but the actual key and pitch often varied.

Because of its relative simplicity, the company was able to keep the cost of its roller organ affordable. Sears & Roebuck, in their 1902 Catalog, offered the Gem Roller Organ for as low as $3.25, including three rollers. Contracting with Autophone to produce large quantities of these devices enabled Sears to sell in volume and keep its price low.

The Gem Roller Organ, available in either a painted black or walnut-like finish with gold stenciled applied designs, used teeth or pins embedded into a 20-note wooden roller, similar to the cylinders used in Swiss music boxes. Pins operated on valve keys while a gear turned the roller. The mass-produced 20-note rollers, priced as low as 18 cents each—and according to the Sears Catalog, less than the price of a traditional sheet of music—played a wide range of tunes, from classical to sacred to ethnic and popular tunes. The 1902 Sears Catalog listed 220 different rollers of the over 1,200 different titles then available. 

The tone of a roller organ was similar to a cabinet parlor organ of the time. At 16 inches long, 14 inches wide and 9 inches high, the Gem Roller Organ was small and light enough to place on a parlor table. 

Since Autophone usually printed the manufacturing date on the bottom of the case, it’s relatively easy to date the device, itself. All rollers show a copyright date of July 14, 1885, even though the Autophone sold them from the late 1880's through the late 1920's—an amazing lifespan for a single basic design. Their success may be attributed to the full, rich sound and pleasing music arrangements offered on the rollers.

Unfortunately, roller organs quickly fell out of favor after the introduction of the phonograph around the turn of the 20th century even though they cost much less than disk or cylinder music boxes manufactured during the same period. Considered the common-mans form of entertainment since music boxes and other instruments were much more expensive, roller organs could be found in many middle class homes. Most eventually ended up in the attic, in the barn, or simply thrown away. Today, roller organs sell for anywhere from $350 to over $800, depending on the condition and the number of rollers included. The rollers, themselves, sell for about $20 each.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The Sporting Life" in the 2025 Summer Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Improving Time

 

QUESTION: My grandfather loved old clocks and had quite a few. My favorite was a type of wall clock that looked like a banjo. In fact, he called it a banjo clock. It was one of my favorites, so when he died recently, I asked if I could have it. However, I don’t know anything else about it. Can you tell me more about banjo clocks and how I can tell the age of mine? 

ANSWER: Though it has become known as a banjo clock, it was first referred to as the Patent Timepiece, according to its inventor, noted early American clockmaker Simon Willard, who created the first one in Roxbury, near Boston, Massachusetts. Willard, originally of Grafton, Massachusetts, patented his clock in 1802. It was the first American 8-day wall clock, the first American wall clock to have the pendulum suspended in front of the weight in the case, and the first American wall clock to have the weight attached to a pulley. He reduced the brass clock mechanism to a much smaller size, thus saving brass which was in scarce supply in the early 19th century. 

He used the shape of a traditional wheel barometer for his clock case which he built by hand, to order. By 1805 the clockworks, as well as standard cases, could be produced in quantity, reducing the cost of the clock. Its small size meant a much lower price of $30, although this was still a large amount of money at the time. 

Because a banjo clock normally lacked a striking mechanism and indicated time only by its hands and dial, some horologists called it a timepiece rather than a true clock.

The banjo-style wooden case usually featured a round opening for a painted dial, a long-waisted throat, and a rectangular pendulum box with hinged door. Reverse-painted panels ornamented both the throat and door, and curved and pierced brass frets usually flanked the case. A finial mounted atop the case usually took the form of a cast-brass eagle or a turned, giltwood acorn.

Below, a narrow trunk, slightly wider at the bottom than the top, protected the weight, and at the bottom a wider compartment contained the lower part of the pendulum. Slender concave metal ornaments connected the three main parts of the clock. The design of Willard’s clock was perfect from the beginning. 

Willard's banjo clock was a lightly built, compact wall timekeeper, about 3 feet tall, accurate and dependable. It was economical to produce, graceful in appearance, and usually lacked hour-striking and alarm mechanisms. Weight-driven, it contained a small brass movement which further reduced its size and weight. The movement had been calculated so that a small drop of the weight—only 15 inches compared to about 6 feet for a tall case clock—would keep it running for 8 days. For ease of maintenance, Willard hung the clock’s pendulum in front of the movement, not behind, as in tall case or Massachusetts shelf clocks, an arrangement that American clockmakers soon widely adopted.

A typical banjo clock featured a white, circular face, painted with black Roman numerals, that flows into a long, tapered neck, which met at a square base. It also featured an elaborately painted hinged door of the base, often painted with a beautiful landscape, a naval scene, or an ornamental pattern. Thin pieces of curved brass often ran down the necks of these clocks, and brass sculptures, most commonly of an eagle, routinely crown their tops.

Willard’s Patent Timepiece revolutionized the clock industry, becoming the most popular clock in the United States. However, he didn’t apply for his patent until 1802, and by that time his competitors had already started to produce clocks similar to his. The clock became so popular that Willard didn’t even pursue these patent infringements. His company eventually produced over 4,000 banjo clocks. 

Willard permitted his numerous clockmaking relatives, former apprentices, and other clockmakers to produce banjo clocks following his original design. Variants of the banjo-style clock made by others include examples with square or diamond-shaped dials, and the extremely opulent, heavily gilt "girandole" style. 

Gideon Roberts, a Revolutionary War veteran from Bristol, Connecticut, made banjo clocks more affordable. He replaced the brass movements with less expensive wooden ones and also used painted paper dials. 

Banjo clocks were popular for 60 years. In the 1840s, railroads began using them at their stations. Some banjo clocks made for the railroads reached a whopping 7 feet high. But by the 1860s, banjo clocks became less desirable, and soon their production came almost to a complete halt.

Unfortunately for collectors of antique banjo clocks, many Willard banjo clocks do not carry their maker’s name, so it’s difficult to identify who made it.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "Roman Arts and Culture" in the 2025 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Weighing In

 

QUESTION: Ever since I was a little boy, I’ve had a fascination with scales. I love weighing things. Now that I’m older, that fascination has turned to a passion for collecting old scales. Currently, I have about 10 scales of varying ages that I acquired from various sources over the years. I’d really like to expand my collection, but I don’t know much about the history of scales and don’t really know where to start. Can you help me?

ANSWER: You have a very unique interest. Scales and other weighing devices are forms of scientific instruments. Scales have played an important role in economies around the world throughout history. 

The earliest known weighing scales date back to ancient Egypt and Rome. Some of the earliest examples of weight measurement consisted of a simple rod suspended by a string in the middle. The user attached a pan to each end. In one pan, he placed  the item, such as a sack of gold coins, to be weighed and in the other stones representing a known weight until he balanced the rod. By calculating the total of the known weights, the user could determine the weight of the object in the other pan.

The ancient Egyptians used balance scales for trade and commerce Scales were also important religious symbols. The primary role of the Egyptian goddess of justice, called Maat, was to assist Osiris in the weighing of the heart in the judgement of the dead. The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead depicts a scene in which a scribe's heart is weighed against the feather of truth.

The original form of a balance consisted of a beam with a fulcrum at its center. For highest accuracy, the fulcrum would consist of a sharp V-shaped pivot seated in a shallower V-shaped bearing. Balance scales that required equal weights on each side of the fulcrum have been used by everyone from apothecaries and assayers to jewelers and postal workers. 

The Romans also used balance scales for trade and taxation purposes, as well as in the production of coins. 

During medieval and Renaissance times, more precise weighing scales appeared. Beam scales, for example, used a lever system to increase precision and accuracy. In the 16th century, the invention of the steelyard, a type of lever scale, allowed for even greater accuracy in weighing objects. Ddesigned to be mounted to a wall, the most ingenious ones could be folded against the wall and moved out of the way when not in use.

Coin-operated weighing machines also became popular during this time, allowing merchants to charge customers based on the weight of the goods they were purchasing. Weighing scales became essential for commerce during this period, with merchants using them to ensure fair trade and prevent fraud. 

In 1669 the Frenchman Gilles Personne de Roberval presented a new kind of balance scale to the French Academy of Sciences. His scale consisted of a pair of vertical columns separated by a pair of equal-length arms and pivoting in the center of each arm from a central vertical column, creating a parallelogram. A peg extended from the side of each vertical column. To the amazement of observers, no matter where Roberval hung two equal weight along the peg, the scale still balanced. In this sense, the scale was revolutionary: it evolved into the more-commonly encountered form consisting of two pans placed on vertical column located above the fulcrum and the parallelogram below them. The advantage of the Roberval design was that no matter where equal weights had been placed in the pans, the scale would still balance.

In the 18th century, spring scales appeared. To produce these scales, a manufacturer would use the resistance of a spring to calculate weights, which could be read automatically on the scale’s face. The ease of use of spring scales over balance scales was what led most post offices to outfit their clerks with spring postal scales.

The Industrial Revolution brought about the development of mechanical weighing scales. Spring scales, invented in the 18th century, used a spring to measure weight. Industries such as agriculture and manufacturing commonly used them. Platform scales, invented in the 19th century, used a lever and counterbalance system, enabling manufacturers and merchants to weigh heavy loads such as industrial machinery. 

The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a fulcrum. One plate holds an object of unknown mass, while objects of known mass, called weights, could be added to the other plate until the plates leveled off, indicating the masses are equal. The perfect scale rests at neutral. 

A spring scale, on the other hand, made use of a spring of known stiffness to determine mass. Suspending a certain mass will extend the spring by a certain amount depending on the spring's stiffness. The heavier the object, the more the spring stretches.

One of the most common types of spring scales was the kitchen scale—also known as a family or dial scale. Designed for horizontal surfaces, these vintage kitchen scales used the weight of goods in a pan at the top of the scale to force the spring down. Such scales, sold by Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward, became common in early-20th-century households. Many had flat weighing surfaces but some had shallow pans on top. Companies such as Salters, Chatillon, and Fairbanks made both.

One specialized type of spring scale was the egg scale, which grocers used to compute the weight of one egg or a dozen eggs. It also made it possible to classify eggs as to size—small, medium, large, or extra large. Jiffy-Way scales, made in Owatonna, Minnesota, beginning in 1940, became popular with collectors for their attractive red painted-metal housings. Another Minnesota company, Specialty Manufacturing Company made the Acme egg scale.

The weights used to balance scales varied from round, coin-like objects, each weighing a different incremental amount, to fancier ones shaped like bells. During the 19th and early 20th century, most scales were made of brass and/or cast metal. 

One of the most common antique scales is the postal scale. While those used in post offices were more elaborate, the basic design of inexpensive postal scales, sold in office supply stores, hasn’t changed since the late 19th century. 

In the 19th century, some merchants used portable suspension balance scales to weigh coins. Often the value of the gold in a coin exceeded the coin’s stamped denomination. These antique scales, designed to fit into wooden or metal cases, could be hung from the nearest hook. They included brass pans and cast iron or lead weights.

Another type of balance scale had a weighing pan on one side and an arm on the other. Known as an unequal arm balance scale, this variety had the counterweight built into the device. 

Counter scales used in dry-goods stores featured Japanned cast iron and bronze trim. Made by companies such as Howe and Fairbanks, the footed tin pans of these scales were often oblong, some encircled at one end so bulk items could be easily poured into a bag. Seamless pans were typically stamped from brass and given style names like Snuff, the smallest, and Birmingham, the largest. Manufacturers designed some counter scales for measuring spices while others weighed slices of cake.

Scales come in all sizes and varieties and prices, making them an excellent item with which to begin or expand a collection. 

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The  Vernacular Style" in the 2024 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

A Bookmark for My Love

 

QUESTION: I love to read, so I have quite a few bookmarks. Most are newer. But at several recent antique shows, I noticed quite a few older bookmarks, many of them featured hearts in some way. Were they given as Valentine’s gifts? I think I’d like to start a collection of some of these older bookmarks. How collectible are they?

ANSWER: Bookmarks have been around in some form or another for hundreds of years, ever since the first printed book rolled off the press in 1455. What a lot of people don’t know was that bookmarks were popular gifts, especially during Victorian times. And many people gave them as small Valentine gifts.

Over the years, Valentine gifts have taken many forms—cards, chocolates, even bookmarks. But whatever form they have taken, these expressions of love often displayed a heart of some sort.

People often gave bookmarks as gifts and as souvenirs or to commemorate a number of events. The heart shape in bookmarks often served to convey expressions of emotions, religious sentiments, or as a way to advertise products of the day.

Also called bookmarkers, these were important instruments for people to use to keep their place while reading. Surprisingly, a great many bookmarks are in the shape of a heart or contain some kind of heart motif.

At first, they were probably nothing more than a scrap of parchment. But as time went on people used a variety of objects as bookmarks. Eventually, printers created actual bookmarks with the primary purpose of marking a place in a book. Someone presented Queen Elizabeth I of England with a silk fringed bookmarker by Christopher Barker in 1584. 

Bookmarks became more common by the post Industrial Revolution. By the mid-19th century there was a convergence of improved methods in the book binding process and an overall increase in literacy. With improved book printing techniques, books became less expensive to produce, and more available to a lot of people. But no one usually read an entire book in one sitting, so bookmarks became a necessary way to mark the place where the reader stopped. 

Silk bookmarks were the most common from around the 1850s and were primarily intended for use in Bibles and prayer books. During the 1860s in Coventry, England, Thomas Stevens was experimenting with his looms and developed a jacquard technique for manufacturing colored silk pictures. He demonstrated these at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and the World's Fair Columbia Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Silk bookmarks, generically called "Stevengraphs," are typically 2 by 6 inches long. These machine embroidered silks became so popular that Stevens began producing them with American themes. Other companies also produced these  desirable and highly prized silk bookmarks. They were especially popular with the women in Victorian book clubs. 

Between 1850 and 1900, home-crafted bookmarks of needlework on perforated cards became quite common. Printing techniques dramatically changed from 1860 through 1900 and ushered in the “Era of Lithography." Names such as Currier & Ives and Prang were to the best known associated with lithography and chromolithography. 

Silver bookmarks became quite popular from about 1380. People still give them as gifts today. In addition to silver, bookmarks have also been made in brass, copper, nickel steel and Britannia white metals. With the turn of the century came bookmarks made of aluminum, celluloid and lighter weight paper. The heart motif can be found on bookmarks made of all these materials.

Because the shape of the heart has long been a symbol of love, affection, deeply felt sentiments, caring, concern and earnestness, its easy to see why makers of bookmarks often turned to the heart as a theme.

The intertwined cross, anchor and heart were often meant to represent faith, hope and charity. Was this bookmark a symbolic religious expression of late Victorian or turn of the century sentiments? Or was this possibly the bookmark of a tea captain? Or was it designed to be given by a sailor to his sweetheart or wife as a gift, a gift that would remind the recipient of the giver whenever a book was read? 

While hearts represent love, or positive feelings such as warmth and charity, they also were very useful marketing tools. A celluloid heart bookmark with a surround of blue and green forget-me-nots on the outside border advertised "Cunningham Pianos." 

Embossed aluminum bookmarkers fashioned in the shape of hearts were quite popular during the 20th century, especially for souvenirs. A 1901 heart bookmark with embossing read "Pan American Exposition, 1901, Souvenir" around the raised raging bull symbol. Another example features an embossed aluminum bookmark that bears + the Bunker Hill Monument.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the "Antiques of Christmas" in the 2021 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

Out, Out Brief Candle

 

QUESTION: One of my aunts recently passed away. She had a collection of antique candle snuffers that was truly unique. Now I’ve inherited them. I know absolutely nothing about them. Some look very strange. What can you tell me about candle snuffers? How far back do they go—obviously before the invention of electricity. 

ANSWER: Most people call the bell-shaped cone at the end of a long handle used to put out candles a snuffer. But the device known as a snuffer is actually an “extinguisher” or candle “douter.”

As candlesticks became more sophisticated in the mid-18th century, people required a method to safely put out candles without blowing them. While the candle snuffer's component parts—scissors, a stand, dustpan—might be familiar to some people,  combined, they do look strange. However, before electricity, candles and candle snuffers were an integral part of everyday life. Candle wicks used to be made of cotton which would start smoking and burst into flames as they grew longer, therefore necessitating regular trimming. The scissor part of the candle snuffer would sever the burnt wick, which would safely fall into the dustpan to be extinguished and discarded. This would also catch any dripping hot wax.

Christopher Pinchbeck the Younger developed and patented the true candle snuffer in England in 1776. His device looked like a pair of stunted scissors with a raised round bowl on top of them. The user would to snip the wick, catching it in the bowl and extinguishing the candle safely with no soot or wax on the walls from blowing, or hot wicks catching anything on fire. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it was considered a sign of candle skill for a person to be able to use the snuffer to trim a wick without extinguishing the flame.

There’s considerable confusion among collectors, antiques dealers and the public concerning the name and function of these little devices known as candle snuffers.

The problem is due to two meanings of the word "snuff." Used as a noun, snuff refers to the burned ash from the spent wick of a candle, but when it's a verb, usually used with the word "out" – then it means to extinguish.

Back in the 18th century, people used snuffers to trim the candlewicks, and to remove the burned snuff, but not to extinguish the candle. At times the flame might have been inadvertently put out in the process, but that wasn’t the intent.

A snuffer was a device made of metal for cutting off, or snuffing, and holding the charred part of a candlewick. Before the invention of the self-consuming wick, around 1830, the hanging burned wick caused the flame to dim, flicker or even go out. Or it may have dropped against the side of the candle, forming a channel or gutter in the precious wax. So it became expedient to reach in with the snuffer to clip the wick and remove the snuff every hour or so. 

The earliest snuffers were plain and simple but over time became more decorative and complicated. The first snuffers were simple scissors types with no container for the snuff. This presented the problem of dropping charred, sometimes still burning wick onto the table, and so the idea of adding a little box to contain the snuff was born.

Craftsmen made all snuffers, douters, and extinguishers of brass, copper, or pewter and  elaborately engraved them. They added delicately twisted handles, basket woven cones, or beautifully etched patterns to make the snuffer a beautiful addition to any home.

Besides improving the efficiency of their snuffers, craftsmen began engraving and chasing them with cupids, garlands, leaves and flowers, and sometimes with the monogram of the owner. They used elaborate finishes, such as gilt, enamel, silver plating and even inlaid fancier ones with faience and porcelain. 

Snuffer trays were flat and usually rectangular, with cut off corners, deep enough to hold the snuffer and the clippings with safety. Sometimes, the tray had small feet to raise them up The invention of the box addition and the automatic spring mentioned above affected the style of the tray. The deep dish of early days was no longer required, for the snuffer box contained the burned snuff. So a more shallow tray with a low rim grew in favor. At the same time, makers fitted trays with three short feet—one beneath each finger hold on the scissors end and one on the pickwick end. These lifted the tool a bit above the tray and made it easier for the user to grasp.

Makers also decorated snuffer trays with handles, scrolls, and masks, and often finished them in Sheffield plate. Heavy borders became popular. By the late 18th century, large “table snuffers,” that sat between a pair of large candlesticks, came into fashion. By that time smaller ones became known as “chamber snuffers.”

It may seem strange today that so much effort went into the design and making of simple snuffers and trays. But since candles provided all lighting during the darker hours, it’s easy to see why so much went into care went into these devices. A pattern bock of around 1800 shows 165 different tray designs, and in 1839 a directory of the city of Birmingham, England, listed 30 manufacturers of steel candle snuffers, the plainest kind.

With the invention of the self-consuming candle wick and improved wax, snuffers and their trays became unnecessary. In fact, many people used the snuffer trays as ashtrays when cigar smoking came into vogue during the Victorian Age.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about the "Antiques of Christmas" in the 2021 Holiday Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.