ZIRA CIGARETTE SILK SCREEN ART – JAPAN FLAG

This is an original cigarette silk.  With a Japanese Flag and Golden Emperor Seal Imperial Coat of Arms.  Circa, 1910-1911.  Factory No 7, 5th District New Jersey, U.S.A. 

Size:  3" X 5".  This is the large size silk, not the normal small ones, as it would have been traded in or coupons used for the trade in.  See below for further info.

Around 1870 tobacco companies started to insert free advertising products in their packaging.  In the U.S. tobacco companies started adding textile items starting in 1905 up until 1914.  One of the most popular were Cigarette silks, small silks, approximately 1 ¾ inch.  These were collected and customers could redeem these for larger silks measuring around 3 to 5 inches.

These pieces of fabric could also be made of satin, sateen, and woven cotton. They polychrome printed images on them and were made with a variety of images included animals, baseball players, floral designs, international flags, Presidents, etc.  These pieces could also be sewn together to make larger pictures, quilts, pillow covers, curtains, etc.  Thousands of people, mostly women, collected these silks.

Cigarette silks were offered until about 1914 at the start of WW1 as tobacco companies stopped inserting the silks into the packaging.