Judge, 1895-02-02 · page 11 of 16
Judge — February 2, 1895 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satire** — it's a period advertisement for Eugene Vallens & Co., a Chicago cigar manufacturer. The ad promotes "La Flor de Vallens" cigars, emphasizing they're "the highest grade in the world" and packed in glass tubes to preserve aroma. The central image shows a box of cigars with a cherub or angel figure and a signature (likely the manufacturer's). The satirical/cautionary element is the repeated "BEWARE OF IMITATIONS" warnings flanking the product. The manufacturer warns consumers that competitors are producing inferior knock-offs in similar glass-tube packaging, attempting to deceive buyers into thinking they're purchasing the genuine Vallens product. This reflects early 20th-century commercial competition and consumer fraud concerns — unscrupulous manufacturers exploiting a successful product's popularity by creating cheap imitations in nearly identical packaging. The ad appeals to buyers to verify the brand name on the band encircling each tube.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
HIGHEST GRADE IN THE WORLD. LA FLOR DE VALLENS. BEWARE oF IMITATIONS. SEE THAT OUR NAME 18 ON THE .. BAND... ENCIRCLING THE CENTRE OF EACH TUBE. wie = AL ~ of The Best That Money Can Buy BEWARE or IMITATIONS. SEE THAT OUR NAME 18 ON THI .. BAND.. ENCIRCLING THE CENTRE OP EACH TUBE. Incomparable Clear Havana Cigars. EACH CIGAR PACKED IN A GLASS TUBE HERMETICALLY SEALED, Mee THEREBY PRESERVING ITS AROMA INDEFINITELY. __ em, The public is cautioned against IMITATIONS of our glass tube cigars... . UNSCRUPULOUS manufacturers, noting the phenomenal SUCCESS of our cigars packed in glass tubes, are flooding the market with very INFERIOR GOODS put up in similar packages to ours, and are endeavoring to palm them off on the public as being equally good. EUGENE VALLENS & Cco., Manufacturers, Chicago, Jn. On receipt of prices quoted we deliver, prepaid to any address, box containing 12 cigars, in the following sizes: CAMELIAS, $1.75; MANHATTANS, $2.25 ; EPICURES, $2.85 ; PETIT CABINETS, 84.75 ; EMPERORS, 85.75 ; PRESIDENTS, 811.80. 1 comicbooks.com