Advertising Art, Cigars, Whole Dam Family, Brown and Bigelow, Antique Print, c. 1900

The Whole Dam Family Recommend the “Keystone” Cigar
Brown and Bigelow, St. Paul: c. 1900
Photoprocess print on original printed mat
5.5 x 13.75 inches, image
9.25 x 17.5 inches, overall
13 x 22 inches, framed
$1,200

A humorous advertisement for Keystone Cigar Co. of Winnepeg, Canada, presents a family of cigar enthusiasts with the surname of Dam with the pun that the “whole Dam family” (including the baby and “The Dam Dog”) recommend Keystone cigars. Each member of the Dam family is identified by name, most of which are also puns, e.g. Helen Dam (“hell ‘n’ damn”) and Cara Dam (“care a damn”). The print was published by Brown and Bigelow, a company that produced advertising cards, calendars and posters. The photoprocess print of the family is affixed, as issued, to a chocolate brown mat with silvered lettering, within a dark stained oak frame with gold fillet.

Condition: Generally good, with the usual wear, soiling. The image a bit sun-toned overall and with scattered spotting. Mat good, noting some fading, a few small holes, and with worn edges. Dark stained oak frame with usual wear, and some losses and inpainting to fillet.