Cigar store Indian

The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an advertisement figure, in the likeness of a Native American, used to represent tobacconists. The figures are often three-dimensional wooden sculptures measuring from several feet tall up to life-sized. They are still occasionally used for their original advertising purpose, but are more often seen as decorations or advertising collectibles, with some pieces selling for hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

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 three gold balls represented pawn shops. American Indians and tobacco had always been associated because American Indians introduced tobacco to Europeans. As early as the 17th century, European tobacconists used figures of American Indians to advertise their shops.

In 1667, King Charles II passed a law which forbade the use of overhead projecting signs because of the danger presented to passing traffic. A Highlander figure indicated the sale of Scottish snuff, and a Blackamoor figure that tobacco from the Caribbean was available.

Because European carvers had never seen a Native American, these early cigar-store "Indians" looked more like Africans with feathered headdresses and other fanciful, exotic features. These carvings were called "Black Boys" or "Virginians" in the trade.