Cigar Weekly

MaxBlaze · 12-22-2010, 03:45 PM

First off let me say hi and that obviously by my post count I am new here..now for my next thought..I bought this at a second hand shop but was wondering around what year this mirror advertisement was made? I really like it and want to learn about when it was made but am having a hard time finding any information about it anywhere online. Has anyone out there seen one/have one like it? Measurements are about 25" x 19"..

Briandg · 12-22-2010, 05:56 PM

First off, Howdy. I'm really having a rough time putting a finger on that. the 70s and further, were a real big time for junky bar mirrors being sold as decor. this doesn't quite look like that, though. Is that entire background etched into the mirror, or is it silkscreened onto the front, with the yellow?

My honest thoughts are that it is a modern thing, between now and the 70s. The wood looks right for the period, so does the cloth trim. The banknote cigar label is floating around at retailers all over the internet. This means that it could very easily be a modern design that never existed in the past.

You can answer your own question a whole lot better than I can by just looking carefully at it and seeing if it is actually carrying 100 years or so of dirt and patina, or if it really just looks a few years old.

Try sending a letter with a pic to Tony Hyman at the cigar museum linked to at the end of the post, and if this brand is a modern creation, as I think it is, he'll be able to tell you.

remember that signs/mirrors like this hung in a lot of rec rooms, dens, basements, etc, and may be dirty as howard stern's mind, but the qualityh and clarity of the glass will be easily determined, and the construction will give you clues.

Post pictures of the back, the corners front and back, and from the side, if you would, to show the moulding.

http://www.nationalcigarmuseum.com/Site/NCM_HOME.html

MaxBlaze · 12-22-2010, 06:45 PM

Hey thanks for the reply.. Whenever I run my finger over the design I feel no difference to running my finger over just the mirror part. I don't know if the original picture shows this or not but there is some darker clouding of the glass going on near the bottom right of the design..Would a sign such as this have been used way back when? I had no idea the age when I got it, just really liked the design and look as a whole. I have never bought advertising/decorative mirrors before, and just thought it was a good deal for something that caught my eye.

Briandg · 12-23-2010, 12:17 AM

I'm figuring this as being very new. It seems to me that it was probably put together at a framing or poster shop. it might have cost a pretty good chunk of money new, 50-100 maybe. It hasn't been around a lot, or gone through a number of owners. I really can't put an age on it, but it seems like 10 years might be a good guess.

I'm gonna list my observations on why.

The glass is pretty good quality, the background is etched or blasted with photoresist and the foreground lettering is monochrome silkscreen. (not great, but better than average)

backing cardboard is pretty clean, no scratches or dirt, no dings, no stains. back of the frame is neat and clean. Front, however, does look as if it sat on a wall for a few years.

The frame looks like a standard frame shop number meant for canvas. The thing is put together with spline or biscuit. The thing was assembled with glazing points, not staples or tape. (professional touch) the hanging method is hook eye and wire, with the wires taped, even. (not sawtooth hanger) That is a fairly complex single molding frame, with a multistep finish, instead of just a spray of paint or glob of stain and laquer. This was NOT mass production from china, I'm pretty certain. If you don't find evidence of a price tag, that really supports that. The shadow on the mirror is simply some corrosion of the silvering on the mirror, moisture worked through the backing and corroded the aluminum a little. You can make that a little better maybe by replacing the backing with an acid free piece of mat.

A better company would have likely kraft papered the back. it wouldn't have had just plain cardboard.

I think you have a nice flea market find there. It probably didn't come from wal mart. it may have come from a low scale frame shop, or maybe hobby store. It's pretty new, and maybe a single owner who bought it during the cigar boom, and then redecorated recently.

That's what it looks like to me, based on all that. Sorry this is so long winded and disorganized, it's nearly 3 am, and I'm tired.

MaxBlaze · 12-23-2010, 08:25 AM

Well I thank you for all of this great information. I bought it at a local second hand store and only paid 5 dollars for it..I thank you again..the back looks almost replaced as the the teeth holding the cardboard in place are turned up slightly in a couple spots and in some spots the cardboard was place back in over the top of a couple of teeth..

Briandg · 12-23-2010, 09:31 AM

At $5 that was an incredible bargain, IMO. the back may have been replaced by the shop owner to clean the thing up for sale. Those glaziers points aren't something an ordinary second hand shop owner would have used.

Enjoy that thing. I like cigar art, and someday plan on buying some label based prints.

MaxBlaze · 12-23-2010, 04:44 PM

Yes I could not pass up the piece for 5 dollars.. good luck with getting your collection started.

12-22-2010, 03:45 PM	#1
MaxBlaze Starting Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4	Bank Note Mirror Advertisment Question? First off let me say hi and that obviously by my post count I am new here..now for my next thought..I bought this at a second hand shop but was wondering around what year this mirror advertisement was made? I really like it and want to learn about when it was made but am having a hard time finding any information about it anywhere online. Has anyone out there seen one/have one like it? Measurements are about 25" x 19".. Last edited by MaxBlaze; 12-22-2010 at 03:53 PM.

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12-22-2010, 05:56 PM	#2
Briandg CW Squirrel Wrangler Herf God Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: southwest Missouri Posts: 35,722	First off, Howdy. I'm really having a rough time putting a finger on that. the 70s and further, were a real big time for junky bar mirrors being sold as decor. this doesn't quite look like that, though. Is that entire background etched into the mirror, or is it silkscreened onto the front, with the yellow? My honest thoughts are that it is a modern thing, between now and the 70s. The wood looks right for the period, so does the cloth trim. The banknote cigar label is floating around at retailers all over the internet. This means that it could very easily be a modern design that never existed in the past. You can answer your own question a whole lot better than I can by just looking carefully at it and seeing if it is actually carrying 100 years or so of dirt and patina, or if it really just looks a few years old. Try sending a letter with a pic to Tony Hyman at the cigar museum linked to at the end of the post, and if this brand is a modern creation, as I think it is, he'll be able to tell you. remember that signs/mirrors like this hung in a lot of rec rooms, dens, basements, etc, and may be dirty as howard stern's mind, but the qualityh and clarity of the glass will be easily determined, and the construction will give you clues. Post pictures of the back, the corners front and back, and from the side, if you would, to show the moulding. http://www.nationalcigarmuseum.com/Site/NCM_HOME.html

12-22-2010, 06:45 PM	#3
MaxBlaze Starting Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4	Hey thanks for the reply.. Whenever I run my finger over the design I feel no difference to running my finger over just the mirror part. I don't know if the original picture shows this or not but there is some darker clouding of the glass going on near the bottom right of the design..Would a sign such as this have been used way back when? I had no idea the age when I got it, just really liked the design and look as a whole. I have never bought advertising/decorative mirrors before, and just thought it was a good deal for something that caught my eye.

12-23-2010, 12:17 AM	#4
Briandg CW Squirrel Wrangler Herf God Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: southwest Missouri Posts: 35,722	I'm figuring this as being very new. It seems to me that it was probably put together at a framing or poster shop. it might have cost a pretty good chunk of money new, 50-100 maybe. It hasn't been around a lot, or gone through a number of owners. I really can't put an age on it, but it seems like 10 years might be a good guess. I'm gonna list my observations on why. The glass is pretty good quality, the background is etched or blasted with photoresist and the foreground lettering is monochrome silkscreen. (not great, but better than average) backing cardboard is pretty clean, no scratches or dirt, no dings, no stains. back of the frame is neat and clean. Front, however, does look as if it sat on a wall for a few years. The frame looks like a standard frame shop number meant for canvas. The thing is put together with spline or biscuit. The thing was assembled with glazing points, not staples or tape. (professional touch) the hanging method is hook eye and wire, with the wires taped, even. (not sawtooth hanger) That is a fairly complex single molding frame, with a multistep finish, instead of just a spray of paint or glob of stain and laquer. This was NOT mass production from china, I'm pretty certain. If you don't find evidence of a price tag, that really supports that. The shadow on the mirror is simply some corrosion of the silvering on the mirror, moisture worked through the backing and corroded the aluminum a little. You can make that a little better maybe by replacing the backing with an acid free piece of mat. A better company would have likely kraft papered the back. it wouldn't have had just plain cardboard. I think you have a nice flea market find there. It probably didn't come from wal mart. it may have come from a low scale frame shop, or maybe hobby store. It's pretty new, and maybe a single owner who bought it during the cigar boom, and then redecorated recently. That's what it looks like to me, based on all that. Sorry this is so long winded and disorganized, it's nearly 3 am, and I'm tired.

12-23-2010, 08:25 AM	#5
MaxBlaze Starting Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4	Well I thank you for all of this great information. I bought it at a local second hand store and only paid 5 dollars for it..I thank you again..the back looks almost replaced as the the teeth holding the cardboard in place are turned up slightly in a couple spots and in some spots the cardboard was place back in over the top of a couple of teeth..

12-23-2010, 09:31 AM	#6
Briandg CW Squirrel Wrangler Herf God Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: southwest Missouri Posts: 35,722	At $5 that was an incredible bargain, IMO. the back may have been replaced by the shop owner to clean the thing up for sale. Those glaziers points aren't something an ordinary second hand shop owner would have used. Enjoy that thing. I like cigar art, and someday plan on buying some label based prints.

12-23-2010, 04:44 PM	#7
MaxBlaze Starting Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 4	Yes I could not pass up the piece for 5 dollars.. good luck with getting your collection started.