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Old 10-29-2022, 10:51 PM
BobC BobC is offline
Bob C.
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Ohio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by yanks87 View Post
Going further down the rabbit-hole, from: Cigarette silks, cigar flannels and ribbons in quilts - Antique Quilt History, there was a discussion about tobacco ‘flannels’ – author indicated that the material was flannel, not felt. From the article:
“Another popular textile insert or premium was the tobacco flannel. These were made of a cotton flannel fabric and printed in many designs, again in themes similar to the themes used on the cigarette cards. Popular subjects were flags of all the different countries of the world and athletes participating in various sports.
As with the silks these flannels were distributed in or on, cigarette and tobacco products, with the larger flannels available in the premium catalogs, and sent to consumers in exchange for coupons, (which were also distributed in tobacco packaging.)
Tobacco flannels are sometimes referred to as “cigar felts”, and this is probably a misnomer, because it is not clear how, or if, they are associated with cigars. The inference is that the flannels were inserted into the boxes of cigars. But according to cigar box collector and historian Tony Hymen, there is no reason that they should be called “cigar felts”.
One might also question why they are called felts when they are obviously made from flannel. One advertisement does mention a “felt”, but the photo in the ad shows what appears to be the small rug, which is usually made up of a velveteen type pile or made of flannel. Perhaps this is a simple example of a word’s popular meaning changing over a century of years.
Another tobacco insert or premium is the small rug or carpet, which is sometimes confused with the flannels. J. R. Burdick in his book The American Card Catalog, catalogs the flannels and rugs separately, noting that the rug has a fringe and the flannel does not.

Rugs were distributed in the same way as the flannels, in or on cigarette or tobacco packaging. One advertisement for Egyptienne Straights cigarettes states that the consumer will receive one rug in each package, plus a free rug from the tobacco shop dealer, “to induce you to try these wonderfully good cigarettes”. The dealer was instructed to apply to the manufacturer for the supply of free rugs so they would have them on hand, in the shop, enabling them to participate in the promotion.”
The above section (in bold) is the same approach that was shown in the Sovereign ad for baseball felts (flannels). So, it would appear that whether it was a baseball felt or a rug, supplying free flannels or rugs to tobacco dealers was a standard practice within the American Tobacco Company.
Even further down the rabbit hole – the article displayed the back of a rug which has a stamp for Egyptienne Straights showing the Factory number 2153, and the 3rd District of New York.

All similar to the baseball tobacco felts mentioned earlier in this post.
Interesting read and info regarding the misnaming of flannels as felts. One easy way to possibly show (and actually feel) the difference is to get a B18 flannel blanket, and a BF2 Ferguson Bakery felt pennant. Feeling and looking at them immediately shows the differences between those two materials. Always figured the confusion originated from the designation by Burdick of both issues as in the BF category, and that category initially being attributed to items made of felt. And then by extension everyone just sort of erroneously assumed everything else in the BF category was also made of felt as well.

Similar situation exists with regard to the cigarette silks I believe. Burdick gave these items an S category classification. So pretty much everything in the S category is referred to, and considered made of, silk. However, in the case of the S74-1 baseball silks and S72-1 actress silks that came with a paper advertisement backing on them, in the printing on the backs it clearly states these items are made from satin, and not pure silk. But everyone still refers to them as silks because of Burdick's categorization.
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