Dan received a really great donation from a couple of really great people out in Illinois and we figured we would share it with all of ya’ll and say a big thank you to them at the same time.  So this item is from the great people of Lehr’s Meat Market in New Athens, IL, one of the best meat markets in the country and hands down the best one we have found in Illinois.  If you have seen Dan’s videos on his Route 66 trip then you would remember his visit to them.  If not you can check it out here at Dan’s visit to Lehr’s.  Lehr’s has been around since the early 1900’s and is a great example of the American dream, an immigrant family coming to the new world, sharing some cultural heritage, working hard and making a family business that has survived the times. Passed down through the generations, it is now run by Jeff (who goes by Red) and his family.  So a big thank you to Red at Lehr’s Meat Market for this great example of Americana and for all the gift packages they have sent us.  Please if you are ever in New Athens, IL stop by and try some of their delicious wares.  If you can’t make it you can check them out online at Lehr’s Meat Market.

So this cigar display was given to us and it is a really, really great example of Americana.  This is a large display box that would have been placed in a store, much like the original Lehr’s, to sell King’s Herald brand cigars.  This one is in very good condition and has quickly become another prized possesion of Dan’s.  The King’s Herald brand cigars were one of the top brands for one of the leading manufactures and jobbers in the midwest region at the beginning of the 20th century.  Produced by the F.H. Berning & Sons Makers company out of Cincinnati OH, the company is another example of the American dream.  Strangely similar to Lehr’s, F.H. Berning was started by a couple of brothers from Germany that immigrated to the US and finally settled down in Cincinnati.  Starting their business possibly in the 1860’s, the two brothers created the cigar plugging factory that through hard work and dedication became the leading cigar company in the midwest region by the turn of the century.  Sadly the company reign fell off as cigarettes took over the tobacco market in the 1900’s due to the creation of the cigarette rolling machine in 1880.  This tin was probably produced in the 1890’s and still looks almost as good as it would in the days of sitting on display at the general store.

The image of the office of F.H. Berning was found on the following website, http://www.cincinnativiews.net/advertising%20%202.htm