This amazing tobacco mirror features a Victorian-style design, stunning fonts in multiple colours and styles, and a pair of vagabonds smoking tobacco while wearing the clothing of the time.
This vintage Lloyds screws tobacco mirror is a great collectable piece from England. It features vibrant, bold fonts in multi-coloured tones and advertises 1d Screws tobacco with a humorous quote. The intricate border design includes the location of the factory.
The mirror has a mid-coloured wooden frame and is in excellent vintage condition with authentic signs of patina.
Dimensions
Height: 24cm
Length: 32cm
Width: 2cm
Richard Lloyd set out as a manufacturer of tobacco products in Holborn, London, in 1784. At that time, the primary uses of tobacco were for pipe smoking and snuffing. Claims were made for its medicinal use, as well as pleasure, and the habit of using tobacco products in the coffee houses of the day spread through the country. In 1843, Lloyds acquired Henry Cross and Co., of Exeter, listed in Robson’s Directory of 1839 as “Cross Hy. & Co. Tobacco and snuff manufacturers, and tea dealers, 77 Forest”.
By 1851, the business was in the hands of the founder's grandson, Richard Lloyd. The census shows the 27-year-old Richard G Lloyd, a tobacconist, as the head of the family, living at 76/77 Fore Street with two brothers and two sisters. His brother Edward is also listed as a tobacconist.
Eventually, Richard’s sons, Horace Charles and Robert Lloyd, took over the reins of the business. Horace Charles died relatively early, leaving Robert to run the business on his own. The local manufacturers of snuff Messrs. Nation were incorporated into the company in the 1870s. The premises were extended in 1881 by taking over a furniture bazaar on South Street adjacent to the Fore Street building, creating a long L-shaped site. The cigarette machinery was moved into the new space. South Street became a goods entrance, while there was a small entrance from George Street.