Durham Tobacco

I went to a antique shop today and bought a tobacco pack made by "The American Tobacco Company" or Durham Tobacco. I am not sure if the pack has any value, collectability or if it ever had anything in them. I was hoping some of the pack collectors here can help with this. The pack is sealed and looks to have never been tampered with.

I hope this was not a bust. Any info or values would be greatly appreciated.

[cwazzy]

Looks great! Almost too great. LOL I would almost guess a reproduction but I really have no reason to think so. But for the price you paid I don't think you could go wrong. Nice pickup, Andrew!

[marvjung]

Hi Andrew - although I don't have any pics at the moment, I have two pouches of the exact same tobacco - I picked up both at antique shops here in northern Cali. I thought they looked great and ironically, I bought both of them to display at my work (I work for an Assisted Living community) and I thought that pack might stir up some great memories for a few of my residents. And no, unfortunately, I don't have any former ball players - lots of news-broadcasters and actors, but no players

But it's a very cool piece that I have to keep locked in a display (only because I'm fairly confident that some of my residents might actually try to smoke the damn thing)

[rdwyer]

Sorry no sports or non sports cards were inserted in these.

References:

Encyclopedia Of Baseball Cards by Lew Lipset
American Tobacco Cards by Robert Forbes
http://www.oldbaseball.com/refs/factory.html

[rhettyeakley]

Unfortunately, the Bull Durham pouches aren't incredibly rare (which is surprising given the age). You find these generally at antique shows and I've seen prices anywhere from $5-35 on them. Yours is in really nice shape so it probably has a value of $15-30 or so--they just aren't that tough to find. They are great for display purposes though!
-Rhett

Edited to add: The closest thing to cards that Bull Durham ever made were the "A Fan for a Fan" hand fans. Recently ads have been found that definitively point to them as the producers of those fans (which were a bit of a mystery up to that point).

[Jacklitsch]

Nice item. Here's a cool companion piece:

[Bridwell]

I like the Durham pieces. Although they are not related to baseball cards, they are related to the Bull Durham signs that were on outfield fences of major league parks. In the 1910 era, Durham had a bonus for players who could 'hit the bull'. That was hard to do when the ball was soft and the fences were long. There are some magazine ads that mention the contest. I've heard it said that 'Bullpens' for relief pitchers got their name because some pitchers had a warm-up area behind the Durham signs in a few ballparks. So having an unopened tobacco pack is a nice companion to other deadball collectibles.

[D. Bergin]

They had a major advertising presence at the Jack Johnson vs. James Jeffries Heavyweight Title fight in Reno, Nevada in 1910.

[canjond]

Actually guys - two things to add to this thread. First, and probably most important... Bull Durham is directly related to baseball "cards" (per se). The Fan for a Fan premiums were available only through coupons packaged in Bull Durham packs identical to the one pictured above. Hopefully someone can post a picture of a fan for a fan so everyone has a better idea of what I'm talking about.

Now, for the bad news, while I hold no opinion of he pack pictured above, these Bull Durham pouches were reproduced as an anniversary issue in the 1970s. They look nearly identical to the originals. The originals really are not that valuable, so reproductions were not made to deceive.

Found one...

Now that you guys mention the "Fan for a Fan" thing I think I remember an auction house had some of these a few yrs back. I believe they were quite valuable. Never the less I know the the pack is not of any important value but with how nice it is I figured get a few old advertisements and frame it together in a wall display case for my office. Guess my $2 was money well spent. I found another pack with another vendor for $10 but the label was torn and the pouch had staining on it. This one was well tucked way and I just caught a glimpse of the pouch and string. Asked a best price for it and bought it. Good ending to a crappy long day.

[BradH]

I purchased two of those exact packs at an antique mall near Springfield, Missouri in the late 1990s. I paid $10 each and the dealer had maybe 8 or 10 packs for sale. I remember that they had a sign posted that said, "Tobacco packs do not contain cards." I'm not sure if they're original packs or remakes from the 70s, but at least they make great display pieces and they always draw interest from anyone who looks at the stuff displayed in my office at work.