Desktop Smoke Shop Indian

Michael Moretti
Posted: June 1, 2004

If you can't turn your office into a smoking lounge, perhaps the sight of a smoke-shop cigar Indian on your desk will bring you comfort and a little closer to the dream.

While hoisting a life-sized wood carving beside your computer and telephone may be a bit much, not to worry: the Entertainment Statue Co. (ESCO) makes the mini "5-cent" Cigar Indian.

This large-headed warrior sports all the iconography of the stern-faced statues that once welcomed visitors at American smoke shops at a fraction of the size. The doll sports a headdress, leggings, moccasins and bundle of cigars branded with the 5-cent price -- harkening to the days of the frontier. Hand-polished and painted in bright colors by ESCO craftsmen, the figures stand either 12 or 17 inches tall and are cast in resin with a porcelain base. They retail for $59.95 and $79.95, respectively.

ESCO also makes statues featuring the visage of notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone, along with other such icons as George Washington and James Dean. The company produces "bobblehead" figures too. Not all are as fervent cigar smokers as the cigar-toting Indian.

The ESCO 5-cent Cigar Indian is available at retail tobacconists. For more information, call Arango Cigars at 1-800-22-CIGAR.

Photo by Jean Schwarzwalder