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Mike "King Kelly" Boston Red Stockings Cigar Box - Incredible New Discovery, Only One Known
Recently discovered in the New England area and the only one known to exist, this jumbo-sized cigar box holds 100-count cigars and features a dead-on image of Mike "King" Kelly in his "BOSTON" Red Stockings uniform. The brand of cigars is known as "Little Reds" and best of all, the edges feature bands that encircle all of the sides, reading "Red Stockings" in logos similar to the team original. The manufacturer is Holderer & MacDonald of Boston with an absolutely magnificent large inner level featuring a classic image of the most popular player of the 19th century: King Kelly. The spectacular matching outer label features a variant image of Kelly as well in graphics fit for a King - these two cigar labels alone are worth a mint, as they are the only two known Mike Kelly labels of their kind, let alone any King Kelly identified as him specifically. There are a couple of knockoff labels out there that have players that "look" like Kelly, but nothing as good as these with his face, body and the Boston team name to boot. Tax revenue stamps over the box dated 1901 make this stellar piece even more legit (the box itself could be a bit earlier). It's in brilliant overall condition with only some flecking, but the all-important inner and outer "Kelly" labels are nicest of all, it measures 8.25x4.5x4". Note: The brand name, logos and even the player illustration of King Kelly on this box are very similar to the far more popular issue of Red Stockings cigars by F.W. MacDonald, also of Boston. Even the manufacturer names are similar, sharing a "MacDonald” (coincidence or ostracized family member?). The baseball card issue - the 1886 Red Stockings Cigars series shown here - has graphics similar to this box. This was likely a knockoff with much “borrowed,” as well as an unpaid and unnamed (and unknown to) King Kelly as their mascot. Were Holderer & McDonald stopped early on in production by the bigger firm F.W. MacDonald, hence the rarity of this box and the appearance of no others?
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