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For close to a decade, Charlie Humber's discovery and documentation of the forgotten stories hidden beneath century-old wooden cigar box lids continues. In 2018, the initial volume of his series, headlined Cigar Box Lithographs: The Inside Stories Uncovered, "sparked" Charlie's widely embraced, six-volume series that has attracted a dedicated following both in Canada and abroad. In the latest volume of his acclaimed series, Charlie spiritedly delves into a timely topic: serenading the alluring history of America's Indigenous Peoples. As with his five previous volumes, he pays homage to historical times. Story by story, he utilizes cigar box lithographs as his guideposts to reach his principal objective.
About the author
Charles J. Humber of Mississauga, Ontario, was born in Montreal, has resided in Toronto, grew up in Boston, graduated from Temple University, Philadelphia, and has lived in Madison, where he earned his M.A., University of Wisconsin. He also studied at the University of Toronto, under Northrop Frye, one of the 20th century's most influential academics. While attending University of Alaska, Fairbanks, 1960-1961, he met Californian, Gayle Jenkins. Following their marriage, 1961, they raised four children: Kristy, Karyn and twins Charlie & Scott. Following his career as a high school in the Toronto area, Humber entered the publishing world, 1982. LOYAL SHE REMAINS, the first volume Mr. Humber published with his partners, became a national best seller. It was presented, in 1984, as the official gift to both Her Majesty The Queen as well as Pope John Paul when both visited Ontario for the province's 1984 Bicentennial. Publisher of Heirloom Publishing, 1985-2003, Humber oversaw the production of the CANADA Heirloom Series, a cycle of seven books, promoted as "cultural ambassadors" when government officials went on international trade missions to promote Canada abroad. Upon retirement, Mr. Humber continued to explore his antique interests, focussing on the intriguing lithographs on the inside lids of tens of thousands of cigar boxes made between 1885-1920. His endeavor has given due recognition to some five hundred illustrations from cigar boxes of that period and has gratified many followers as they rediscover the rich culture hidden inside these cigar boxes more than one century ago. This Volume III, plus Volumes I and II, in addition to the forthcoming Volume IV, all notably capture the contributions of our indigenous peoples, various writers, stage performers, war generals plus discoverers, industrial giants, inventors and much more. Similar to museum portrait galleries, but accompanied by vignettes, the volumes of this series afford one the prospect of peering into the past and re-capturing the history all of us missed growing up.
