Spoof matchbook cover advertising ''Old Reefer Unfiltered Cigarettes.''
Providence, RI: Model(?)Art Co., 1958.
Item #SKB-16776
Beat-era marijuana spoof item: "Marri-Warner Tobacco Co. Old Reefer Unfiltered Cigarettes A Blend of Selected Leaves and Processed Poppy." Also states: "The Smoke That Sends You" and "Fly High With Old Reefer." This brand "sold only to undiscriminating smokers" promises to give you "happy dream smoking pleasure" and bears an insignia indicating they are a "Member of Opium Refiner." Printed in red, blue, and yellow with an illustration of a pack of Old Reefer cigarettes. It wouldn't have been surprising to see an item such as this in a '60s head shop, but having been created in 1958, at the height of the Beat scene, makes it quite unusual. One would think that marijuana smoking wasn't mainstream enough to justify production of an item like this, but one hip novelty company knew there was a countercultural demographic they could aim for. Fine (no matches, but striker present). Scarce.
Price: $75.00