The history and origin of the East Coast Cigar Store Indian dates back to England in 1617, when small wooden figures called “Virginie Men” were placed on countertops to represent tobacco companies.
Back in those day’s most people couldn’t read, so they had to figure out how to let people know what their business was and thus the Indian holding cigars. Another example would be the barber pole.
The cigar store Indian or wooden Indian is an advertisement figure, in the likeness of a Native American, used to represent tobacconists
I have decided that I will devote this page to Cigar store Wooden Indians that I come across in my adventures!
If you have questions about where my pics come from or where to find more information about Wooden Indians, leave a message in the comments section below.
Seen at Bayers Traveling Humidor
The following 5 seen at Blue Torch, Tampa
Seen in Outmans, Greenville, S.C.
Seen in Outmans
Seen in Outmans
Seen in Outmans
Seen at One Eyed Jacks, Sturgis S.D.
seen at Smokehouse, Thomasville, GA
seen at Smokehouse, Thomasville, GA2
seen at Smokehouse, Thomasville, GA3
Old Cement Head, Thomasville, GA
I have been looking online for years as of to what website is the main suppliers where you can buy these from for years, and I am so curious as to what online company accepts PayPal for these styles of Cigar Store Indians. I even asked “Yahoo Answers” the other day who commonly sells these. I have asked many people online. What online website is the main supplier that stocks and that accepts PayPal for many of these styles of Cigar Store Indians for a “Reasonable” price?
Hi Ben: thanks for checking out the site and my page about Cigar Store Indians. While I am no expert in what are commonly wooden Indians I have talked to some folks and done some searches on the internet.
The term “reasonable price” is relative, as many of these totems are antiques and can ask for some pretty steep prices. There are apparently collectors out there who are willing to pay and the sellers have the right to charge as much as the market will bear.
When you add onto that the need to only use PayPal I imagine you drastically reduce the possibility of finding one.
Many of the people I know who have found a good deal on these, were at the right place with cash and walked away with some sweet deals.
My best suggestion would be to get out and visit cigar shops and antique stores and thrift shops and when you find one that your interested in, make them a cash offer.
By the way, I did a quick search on Ebay and found these and they accept PayPal! you can check them out here
I hope this helped Ben and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Hi Chuck,
I understand it’s been a few years since I last posted. Do you have any more information about where I can buy Cigar Store Indians? Since my last post we had a global pandemic that some say we are not out of COVID-19. When I posted it was before the pandemic. A lot of us had no idea that we would be in one recently after I posted. Anyways you told me that antique shops, cigar shops, and thrift shops may sell them. Nothing has changed since 2019 has it? All I’m saying is I have noticed that unfortunately they seemed to have become even more rare since my last post. Does anybody still have any? Thank you for your time and help.
Sorry Ben: I have not heard of any for sale other than what I said before.
Hi Chuck,
I understand it’s been a few years since this original post. Do you have any more information about the last picture? The cement bust? I was recently given one, much more ornately painted. It also came from the state of Georgia.
Thank you for your time and help.
Hi Beth: Unfortunately I don’t. I saw that in a little cigar shop in Thomasville and the folks that were minding the store, knew a lot about the shops history, but couldn’t tell me anything about the bust. Sorry it has taken so long to reply to your question, had an illness in the family and haven’t been doing much with this site. I am just sitting down to write about a cigar adventure I just had and saw your comment.
Thanks for checking out the blog!