Description: Antique wooden cigar box. Design features an oval stamp depicting a “Royal Lancer” figure, classic metal clasp on front. Distributed by Byron J. Mosier & Sons.

Dimensions:

Current Item Condition: Item has preserved green and gold paper distributor label on the hinge side of box. Item shows heavily aged patina, surface wear, scratches, and remnants of original tax stamp on the side. The localized advertising label adds reginal historic interest. Has the ‘Factory No. 268, 1^st Dist., Par 25’ on bottom.

History: Byron J. Mosier & Sons was a famous estate, insurance, and tobacconist based in Stillwater, MN. The building is a historic landmark on Main and Chestnut Streets. Theis particular box dates to 1890’s-1920’s. Factory No. 268, 1^st Dist., Par 25’ on bottom indicates federal registration number to specific facility, the district is the state the plant is in (the label is MN, but the cigars were rolled in the Philadelphia area), and Par is short for “Paragraph 25” or quantity that legally authorized, taxed, and sized to contain exactly 25 cigars.