Early in the 16th century beggars in Seville would pick up disgarded cigar butts, shred them and roll them in scraps of paper. It wasn’t until late in the 18th century that they acquired respectability and their use spread to Italy and Portugal. French and British troops in the Napoleonic Wars became familiar with them, and the French named them cigarettes, forty years later another generation of French and British troops, fighting in the Crimean War made their acquaintance with Turkish cigarettes. At first, all cigarettes were made by hand in factories, but in 1880 James Bonsak was granted a U.S patent for a cigarette machine and the cigarette as we now know it was born.
 
This is a good quality, silver plated cigarette case and is inscribed D G Marts 1898, at this time, all cigarettes were small. This case is shaped to fit the curve of the hip when placed in the trouser pocket. It has an elaborate monogram on the lid “DGM”, and a push button clasp.
 
The silver plate is in good condition, and there are no splits or dinges.
 
Dimensions: 9cm x 7cm x 2cm