LOT # 520
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L520 ANTIQUE AMERICAN CIGARETTE FELTS WORLD FLAG QUILT COMPLETE 89 INCH
Item Description
We are pleased to offer this Antique American Cigarette Felts Flags of the World Quilt. This quilt is completed with cotton quilt back and is circa 1910. Larger sized at 89″ x 72″. It was between 1906 and 1910 that tobacco companies began inserting flag textiles in cigarette packages. About the beginning of WWI is when they stopped.
These flags are often refered to as tobacco felts, but they are in-fact flannel. Some references call them cigar felts, however it is not clear that they were ever included in cigar packaging. In fact the National Cigar Box museum has stated that they have never seen a flannel associated with a cigar box. An innovative motif included both oriental and Navajo designs touted as miniature Indian rugs. Cigarette silks and tobacco flannels have pictured everything from animals to flowers, from famous people to children at play and from flags to kewpie dolls. Most of the novelties were done with the woman of the house in mind as these felts were widely collected by them. The practice of giving away novelties to promote the sales of tobacco products diminished with the advent of World War I. But for several carefree years around the turn of the century women had enjoyed making decorative items with these novelties.
Research Consulted: The Magic of Crazy Quilting: A Complete Resource for Embellished Quilting by J. Marsha Michler
Retail Value Estimate: $450-$550
Condition: mior fraying to egdes and wear Weight: 2lb 7oz
Measurements (LxWxH): 72 inches x .25 inches x 89 inches
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