Box Label, Monument Square Baltimore, Battle Monument, Antique 1910s, Outer Label, NOS, Ephemera

Gold leaf. Embossing. Full color lithography — a rare intersection of civic pride and commercial advertising.

• Brand: Monument Square
• Manufacturer: George Schafer – H. C. Pfaff Company, Baltimore, Maryland
• Materials: Paper, chromolithograph, embossed and gilded
• Origin: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
• Era: Antique, circa 1910
• Dimensions: 9.25" long | 7.0" tall
• Quantity: 2 available
• Condition: New Old Stock (NOS), unused, mint condition. Age-appropriate yellowing on the reverse only — the face is vivid and pristine. Please review photos closely before purchasing, as all sales are final.

Frame it for a study, a library, a bar, a Baltimore-themed space, or as a housewarming gift for anyone with deep Baltimore roots. At 9.25 by 7.0 inches it fits a standard 10x8 frame beautifully. A wonderful gift for a Baltimore history enthusiast, a tobacciana collector, or anyone who appreciates American city history rendered in extraordinary commercial art.

This original Monument Square outer box label is an antique chromolithograph from circa 1910, produced for the George Schafer – H. C. Pfaff Company of Baltimore, Maryland. The subject is Monument Square in Baltimore — the Battle Monument, completed in 1825, rising 39 feet at the center of a city that at its peak was home to over 132 cigar factories. This label is both a piece of tobacciana history and a piece of Baltimore history, made in the city it depicts, by a company that was the last cigar maker standing in Baltimore when it was finally acquired in 1963. Copies of this label circulate widely — an original in unused NOS condition is a genuine rare find. The Battle Monument was built to honor those who died defending Baltimore during the War of 1812. Designed by Baltimore architect J. Maximilian Godefroy and built between 1815 and 1825, it stands 39 feet tall and was originally topped by a statue known as Lady Baltimore, now in a museum with a concrete replica in her place. H. C. Pfaff started his company in 1890, and George Schafer began making cigars by hand in 1896; the two eventually merged and built one of Baltimore's most beloved brands. In 1963 the company was acquired by T. E. Brooks of Red Lion, Pennsylvania, ending a long manufacturing tradition in Baltimore.

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