Story Boxes: The Tony Hyman Collection of Canadian cigar boxes and tins
Gatineau, Quebec, February 20, 2003 — The Canadian Museum of Civilization is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition Story Boxes: The Tony Hyman Collection. The exhibition showcases fifty Canadian cigar boxes and tins selected from a larger collection of two hundred compiled over 50 years by Tony Hyman, one of the foremost collectors of cigar memorabilia.
Cigar smoking was the fashion in Europe and North America between 1870 and 1920. To meet the Canadian demand, entrepreneur cigar-makers established hundreds of factories in cities and towns from Victoria to the Maritimes. They trained local men and women to hand-roll cigars, using domestic and imported tobacco leaf. The cigars were sold out of their open boxes, arrayed in tobacco store display cases.
The labels on the inner lids of these cigar containers acted as miniature billboards, competing to attract the passing customer. Catchy brand names and vivid imagery invoked the news of the day, popular phrases and catchwords, gender and ethnic stereotypes, and the growing cult of celebrity in politics, sports, entertainment, and the military. Each of these old cigar boxes tells a story about everyday life in the new country, Canada.
The exhibition Story Boxes: The Tony Hyman Collection will be on view in the New Acquisitions display case in the Cascades Corridor, from February 21, 2003 until July 2004. The complete collection was purchased by the Canadian Museum of Civilization (CMC) in June 2002 and is the largest of its kind in the world.
Media Information:
Media Relations Officer
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7169
Chief, Media Relations
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Tel.: (819) 776-7167
Fax: (819) 776-7187
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