General Hooker 1896 Sample Cigar Label by Schmidt & Co. of New York. A lithographed 7.75" x 6" inner label with fanc...

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General Hooker 1896 Sample Cigar Label by Schmidt & Co. of New York. A lithographed 7.75" x 6" inner label with fancy gold and silver embossed decorative elements around a portrait of the (in)famous Union Major General Joseph Hooker. "Fighting Joe" Hooker had a long and controversial career as a U.S. Army officer who had a tendency to tip the bottle a bit too much. His headquarters at Falmouth, Virginia were once described as a combination of a "bar-room and a brothel." Though often stated as fact, the use of the word "hooker" as a slang term for prostitute did not come from the band of prostitutes that followed his division around though they were supposedly referred at the time as "General Hooker's Army" or "Hooker's Brigade." This sample label with Civil War and military appeal has the prices printed at the bottom stating that these were available from Schmidt & Co. for $2.50 per 100 (inside) and $1.00 per hundred (outside), also blank. Near mint condition.