Larry, here's a little history about the cigar store Indian some might find interesting...
History
Because of the general
illiteracy of the populace, early store owners used descriptive
emblems or figures to advertise their shops' wares; for example,
barber poles advertise
barber shops,
show globes advertised
apothecaries and the
three gold balls represent
pawn shops. American Indians and
tobacco had always been associated because American Indians introduced tobacco to Europeans,
and the depiction of native people on smoke-shop signs was almost
inevitable. As early as the 17th century, European tobacconists used
figures of American Indians to advertise their shops.
Because European carvers had never seen a Native American, these
early cigar-store "Indians" looked more like black slaves with feathered
headdresses and other fanciful, exotic features. These carvings were
called "Black Boys" or "Virginians" in the trade. Eventually, the
European cigar-store figure began to take on a more "authentic" yet
highly stylized native visage, and by the time the smoke-shop figure
arrived in the Americas in the late 18th century,
it had become thoroughly "Indian."
Today
The cigar store Indian became less common in the 20th century
for a variety of reasons. New sidewalk-obstruction laws, higher
manufacturing costs, restrictions on tobacco advertising, and increased
racial sensitivity relegated the figures to museums and antique shops.
[4] To some, the cigar store Indian is considered the native equivalent of the black
lawn jockey ?a
stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans; however, cigar store Indians are still made for sale and can be found outside cigar stores.
Source:
https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=tobacco+Store+Indian&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35Cheers,
Brian
My Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ur4chun8/
My photos according to "Interestingness"...
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To: anaglyphs(-at-)yahoogroups.com
From: anaglyphs(-at-)yahoogroups.com
Date: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 15:49:43 -0500
Subject: Re: [Anaglyphs] Wooden Indian [1 Attachment]/ Brian
Brian, that is a cool wooden Indian, I wonder how old it is and if it was
made for a tobacco store.
LR
Sent: Sunday, October 12, 2014 11:56 PM
Subject: [Anaglyphs] Wooden Indian [1 Attachment]
As I was walking
by one of the bars on one of the main streets in Annapolis, I found this guy
standing by the door.
Cha cha, Nikon D600,
PS-CS6, ACR, SPM, IrfanView
Cheers,
Brian
My Flickr page:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ur4chun8/
My photos according to "Interestingness"...
http://fiveprime.org/hivemind/Tags/Brian,Wallace,3d
Capture Maryland:
http://www.capturemaryland.com/users/Starg82343