{"id":702282,"date":"2026-05-24T14:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=702282"},"modified":"2026-05-24T14:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T18:51:16","slug":"review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A question for Melissa Mead, the John M. and Barbara Keil University Archivist and Rochester Collections Librarian.<\/b><\/h2>\n

Knowing my love for the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>, a family member recently surprised me with a unique gift for the holidays\u2014a small leather rectangle stamped with the pre-1928 Rochester seal. They found it on eBay a while back but didn\u2019t have much information regarding its history. Do you know its origins and what it might have been used for?
\n<\/em>\u2014Jason Buitrago \u201907, \u201914W (MS)<\/p>\n

\n
\"Leather
STAMPED IN TIME:<\/strong> This leather rectangle bearing the University\u2019s pre-1928 seal was originally tucked inside a cigarette pack around 1910 as part of a collectible series. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Your gift was originally tucked inside a pack of cigarettes, issued circa 1910. Though made of leather, it belongs to a long history of cigarette, or trading, \u201ccards.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Maurice Rickards writes in his\u00a0Encyclopedia of Ephemera<\/em>, \u201cCigarette cards were among the first items of ephemera to be produced specifically for collecting. Originating in America as cardboard stiffeners for the paper packs in which cigarettes were then sold, it was shortly realized that the . . . blank cards might serve some promotional purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

What better way to convince consumers to keep buying than to distribute cards in limited-run series on topics of interest to people of all ages? Beginning in the late 1870s, cigarette companies issued cards with themes ranging from historical figures and literary characters to flags, flowers, and, of course, athletes.<\/p>\n

American colleges and universities entered the mix around 1910. Appearing alongside Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and many others,\u00a0Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u00a0made it into\u00a0nearly every\u00a0set. By then, protecting package contents had become\u00a0largely secondary\u00a0to marketing, and companies began producing sets in other materials such as leather, silk, and felt.<\/p>\n

Leather rectangles and triangular pennants appeared in\u00a0various colors, either \u201cblind-stamped\u201d like yours or with color accents. \u201cSilks\u201d came in two formats: small woven strips in solid colors featuring school names and seals, and more fragile printed four-by-five-inch silk panels tucked into cigar boxes.\u00a0One such design included a basketball and net, the first verse of \u201cThe Genesee,\u201d the school yell, and the pre-1928 seal. Paper cards came in two sizes and depicted an energetic scene of students playing ice hockey\u2014organized as a varsity sport in the fall of 1906.<\/p>\n

There is no evidence of any objection to being included in these promotions, but the Archives holds no documents suggesting University administrators were consulted, either. And tobacco\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0the only vehicle: Weber Bakery in Irvington, New Jersey, also distributed cards,\u00a0perhaps licensing\u00a0the image from a tobacco company. Text on the back promised a different card packed with each loaf of bread every day for two months, and posed the question: \u201cWhich college is your favorite?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fair warning, though:\u00a0Acquiring\u00a0Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\u00a0ephemera can be habit-forming. The Archives\u2019 holdings grew significantly recently, thanks to a gift from Mark Zaid \u201989 from his extensive collection. Look for the first installment\u2014his postcards and tobacco ephemera\u2014on the\u00a0Ask the Archivist page<\/a> soon.<\/p>\n

\n

This story appears in the spring 2026 issue of <\/em>Rochester Review<\/a>, the magazine of the Ä¢¹½´«Ã½<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1292,"featured_media":702352,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41112],"tags":[42272],"class_list":["post-702282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-magazine","tag-university-libraries"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAsk the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Center\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards-1200x630.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melissa Mead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melissa Mead\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Melissa Mead\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42\"},\"headline\":\"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":539,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"University Libraries\"],\"articleSection\":[\"From the Magazine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42\"},\"description\":\"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1200,\"caption\":\"CAMPUS COLLECTIBLES: The University Archives preserves examples of most of the known Ä¢¹½´«Ã½-themed cigarette cards, a form of early 20th-century collectible ephemera. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \\\/ J. Adam Fenster)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Center\",\"description\":\"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42\",\"name\":\"Melissa Mead\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rochester.edu\\\/newscenter\\\/author\\\/mmead\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0","description":"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0","og_description":"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/","og_site_name":"News Center","article_published_time":"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards-1200x630.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Melissa Mead","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melissa Mead","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/"},"author":{"name":"Melissa Mead","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42"},"headline":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0","datePublished":"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/"},"wordCount":539,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg","keywords":["University Libraries"],"articleSection":["From the Magazine"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/","name":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-24T18:51:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42"},"description":"Melissa Mead delves into the history of Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ collectible cigarette cards from the 1910s.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/fea-review-spring-2026-cigarette-cards.jpg","width":2000,"height":1200,"caption":"CAMPUS COLLECTIBLES: The University Archives preserves examples of most of the known Ä¢¹½´«Ã½-themed cigarette cards, a form of early 20th-century collectible ephemera. (Ä¢¹½´«Ã½ photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/review-spring-2026-ask-the-archivist-collectible-cigarette-cards-702282\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ask the archivist: What\u2019s the story behind this stamped leather artifact?\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/","name":"News Center","description":"Ä¢¹½´«Ã½","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/#\/schema\/person\/0036ff4f8fbaa11c83c8eb59b74a9c42","name":"Melissa Mead","url":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/author\/mmead\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1292"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702282"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":705272,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702282\/revisions\/705272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}