Hello! I am currently doing some research concerning early tobacco containers and could use some help.
In the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, the title object is described like so.
"At two o'clock yesterday afternoon a small packet, wrapped in brown paper, was handed in by the postman. A cardboard box was inside, which was filled with coarse salt."
"The box is a half-pound box of honeydew tobacco and does not help us in any way."
"Lestrade went in and brought out a yellow cardboard box, with a piece of brown paper and some string."
"The box is a yellow, half-pound honeydew box, with nothing distinctive save two thumb marks at the left bottom corner."
Most depictions of this box are big ol' brown boxes, like most people would think of when imagining a cardboard box. I decided to see if I could find examples of a box like that described. Small, half-pound, yellow, cardboard, honeydew tobacco box with corners. I suspect that they are referring to a box that held loose tobacco, and not cigarettes or cigars. Also, while a date isn't given in the story, estimated dates range from 1882 to 1888.
I've found a few yellow honeydew tobacco brands that I think are from around that era, most prominently W.D. & H.O. Wills' Gold Flake Honey Dew. However, I still have some questions. I've done a fair amount of digging already, but would appreciate some help, even if it's in recommendations for further sources.
There seem to be very few cardboard tobacco boxes around today, period. At first I assumed that this was due to their flimsiness, in comparison to tins (and I still believe that's a factor). But everything I've read seems to suggest that tins were already the predominant container at that time, which makes me question just how widespread cardboard tobacco boxes were by then. I did see an article written in 1895 that may have cleared it up. It stated that since postage had to be affixed to any containers being shipped, tobacco companies were using cardboard boxes to enclose tins in order to keep the tins pristine. So, at what time did tins replace cardboard, if cardboard was even in the picture at all? And if cardboard was still being used in the 1880s, for what purposes?
Also, I'm having trouble nailing down dates. I bought a box for Compass Brand Golden Flaked Honey Dew, manufactured by Stephen Mitchell and son, that almost fits the description (it's a quarter-pound, so the size is off). Some of their boxes state that they won a prize at the 1889 Paris exhibition, but I can't determine if that relates to their Honey Dew brand specifically, or if the tobacco was around before that date. If there were any way I could get my hands on some advertisements from the 1880s to see what brands of honey dew tobacco were available, be it Mitchell, Wills or otherwise, that would be great. Or is there a better way of narrowing it down?
Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide!
In the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Cardboard Box, the title object is described like so.
"At two o'clock yesterday afternoon a small packet, wrapped in brown paper, was handed in by the postman. A cardboard box was inside, which was filled with coarse salt."
"The box is a half-pound box of honeydew tobacco and does not help us in any way."
"Lestrade went in and brought out a yellow cardboard box, with a piece of brown paper and some string."
"The box is a yellow, half-pound honeydew box, with nothing distinctive save two thumb marks at the left bottom corner."
Most depictions of this box are big ol' brown boxes, like most people would think of when imagining a cardboard box. I decided to see if I could find examples of a box like that described. Small, half-pound, yellow, cardboard, honeydew tobacco box with corners. I suspect that they are referring to a box that held loose tobacco, and not cigarettes or cigars. Also, while a date isn't given in the story, estimated dates range from 1882 to 1888.
I've found a few yellow honeydew tobacco brands that I think are from around that era, most prominently W.D. & H.O. Wills' Gold Flake Honey Dew. However, I still have some questions. I've done a fair amount of digging already, but would appreciate some help, even if it's in recommendations for further sources.
There seem to be very few cardboard tobacco boxes around today, period. At first I assumed that this was due to their flimsiness, in comparison to tins (and I still believe that's a factor). But everything I've read seems to suggest that tins were already the predominant container at that time, which makes me question just how widespread cardboard tobacco boxes were by then. I did see an article written in 1895 that may have cleared it up. It stated that since postage had to be affixed to any containers being shipped, tobacco companies were using cardboard boxes to enclose tins in order to keep the tins pristine. So, at what time did tins replace cardboard, if cardboard was even in the picture at all? And if cardboard was still being used in the 1880s, for what purposes?
Also, I'm having trouble nailing down dates. I bought a box for Compass Brand Golden Flaked Honey Dew, manufactured by Stephen Mitchell and son, that almost fits the description (it's a quarter-pound, so the size is off). Some of their boxes state that they won a prize at the 1889 Paris exhibition, but I can't determine if that relates to their Honey Dew brand specifically, or if the tobacco was around before that date. If there were any way I could get my hands on some advertisements from the 1880s to see what brands of honey dew tobacco were available, be it Mitchell, Wills or otherwise, that would be great. Or is there a better way of narrowing it down?
Thank you in advance for any help that you can provide!