Tobacco Silk Lot 2 Queen Victoria of England 1837-1901 Portrait Zira Cigarettes.

Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previous British monarch and is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. In 1876, the British Parliament voted to grant her the additional title of Empress of India.

TOBACCO CIGARETTE SILK inserts ; queen silks from the 1910s. This is the Zira "portrait of queens" series.

The silks measure approx. 2.5" x 3”

"Factory No. 7 5th Dist. N.J." Made in USA.

History of tobacco silks In Cigarette packs;

Originally issued in American cigarette packets between 1905 and 1917, these ‘giveaways’ proved a very popular promotional item which was taken up by twenty British tobacco manufacturers at the advent of the First World War (1914). Silk cigarette inserts continued to be issued following paper restrictions announced by the government in 1917, but had faded out by the mid-1920s, except for a small resurgence in 1933-4. The subjects included religion, cricket, football, art, flags, army and naval badges, flowers, and clan tartans. Silk inserts were an adaptation of the popular cigarette cards. In North America between 1900 and 1936 silk cigarette cards, or inserts, were produced by tobacco companies as calculated promotional giveaways for men to pass on to women.