Artifact 61: Free cigars for predicting the outcome of the 1896 election

1,000 FREE
"GENERAL ARTHUR" CIGARS
Guess who will be elected in 1896
Artifact #61
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

NE THOUSAND CIGARS!

A contest created by cigar manufacture Kerbs, Wertheim and Schiffer of New York.

Study the back of this card, then fill out the column under 1896 with R for Republican, D for Democrat, or P for People's party, opposite each State entitled to cast an electoral vote, and send it to us with your name and P. O. address written in the margin. No restrictions as to the number of times you guess.  The one giving the correct answer and first received by us will be presented with ONE THOUSAND (1,000) "GENERAL ARTHUR" PERFECTOS. Guess as you vote, intelligently.

      The 1896 presidential election was between the Republican Party's William McKinley and Democratic Party candidate, William Jennings Bryan. Obviously, Soapy didn't send this in, but how and why did he have it in his "scrapbook" collection of letters? Was he possibly planning a future swindle for selling tickets to a non-existent contest? Could this already be one of the fraudulent cards?
      The average cigar costs about .05 cents in 1896, so 1000 cigars at retail cost would be a $50.00 value. That doesn't sound like a big prize today, but $50 from 1896 is equivalent to $1,907.61 in 2020.[1]

The handwritten names
Artifact #61
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

WHAT NAMES DO YOU SEE?

Many times seeing atrocious handwriting and chicken scratch through the eyes of another can be very helpful and revealing. I see the names "Eva or Ema Dawson" and "Hank W Tus" or "Witus." The rest appears to be just chicken scratch and lines.

The handwritten names
in negative format
Artifact #61
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

Sometimes viewing the writing in a negative format helps to decipher the text. Does it help you?

The rear of the card
Artifact #61
Jeff Smith collection

(Click image to enlarge)

      The individual who filled out the rear (shown) is likely a Democrat, considering all the "D's." The "D" appears to be the same "D" as written in "Dawson" on the front of the card, thus likely both sides were filled out by the same individual. As Soapy was a Republican, the handwriting is likely not his.

History of General Arthur cigars.

      I did not find much on the cigar manufacturing firm of Kerbs, Wertheim and Schiffer of New York, that made the General Arthur cigar. Mostly as a footnote for later companies they formed via acquisition of other cigar firms. Kerbs and Wertheim had their own individual histories as well. What I did find plenty of was advertisements, tins, trays, cigar box art, etc.

General Arthur cigar ad
McClures Magazine, 1898
Courtesy of Cornell University Library

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General Arthur cigar box
Courtesy of Heritage Auctions

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SOURCE:
[1]. Tom's Inflation Calculator: (www.halfhill.com/inflation)

"There is not a man on the Denver police force who did not breath a sigh of relief when he read that “Soapy” was dead. It was bound to come, and all realized that, but the question bothering the police officials was how long “Soapy” was to go about killing other men."

—Rocky Mountain News, Alias Soapy Smith, p. 584.

JANUARY 5

1781: Richmond, Virginia is burned by a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold.

1836: Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, in time for the siege at the Alamo.

1838: U.S. President Martin Van Buren issues the Neutrality Proclamation forbidding citizens from taking sides in Canadian rebellions.

1863: Henry Talbotte, alias “Cherokee Bob,” dies in the back room of his saloon in Florence, Washington Territory after instigating and losing a gun fight on New Year's Day.

1865: A Holliday Overland Mail and Express stage is attacked by Indians near Juesburg Colorado Territory. The Indians get away with $1,802 that was being shipped by Denver merchants.

1870: John Wesley Hardin shoots and kills Jim Bradley in Towash, Texas. Bradley had threatened Hardin earlier while unarmed. He went to his room and procured a gun. On the street Hardin saw Bradley who took a shot at Hardin but missed. Hardin shot back twice killing Bradley.

1878: Indians kill 6 settlers in a raid 63 miles northwest of Presidio del Norte, Texas.

1885: The Long Island Railroad Company becomes the first to offer piggy-back rail service which was the transportation of farm wagons on trains.

1895: Bascomb Smith, brother of Soapy Smith, is arrested in Denver for malicious mischief. He smashed furniture in a house (likely a brothel) on Market Street during a quarrel and with a knife he slashed the arm of Georgie Roe, a probable prostitute.