carvings | photographing kp!

Cigar Store Indians are a form of American Folk Art dating back to the 1800s. Because many people couldn’t read or in the cas of immigrants read English, it was common to use visual signs and/or carvings to bridge the language barrier. Cigar Store Indians (aka Wooden Indians) were in front of tobacconist shops to direct illiterate customers to the shop. Other businesses used trade signs too… a barber pole for a barber shop, a key for a locksmith, a pair of scissors for a tailor or three gold balls for a pawn shop. Said to be the most popular, the Indian was chosen for a tobacco shop because Indians introduced tobacco to early explorers of the Americas.

Cigar Store Indians are usually made of wood, are three dimensional and can be as large as life-sized. Due to a variety of reasons… sidewalk-obstruction laws, higher manufacturing costs, tobacco advertising restrictions and increased racial sensitivity… the Cigar Store Indian has become an advertising antiquity.