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Last night while browsing the 'bay, my eyes popped outta my head when I saw this, it's an old sign for Murray's Warrior Plug, my absolute favorite tobacco, still made today (albeit in Denmark) and much smoked by me.

It is very rare that I buy signs as they're quite pricey, but this one was priced right with a B-i-N option and the seller had intertnational p&p rates listed, so it was easy, almost automatic, for me to grab it, a quick look at the xe currency converter just to see $USD conversion, and into my life this sign shall come.

I think it has a luverly patina.

Scarce offerings like this from Murray's that I've seen, from my difficult position in the States, stuff like this just doesn't surface --- Erinmore & Erinmore & Erinmore all day long, but the older stuff is hard to come by.

I am extremely pleased!

These are the sellers photos from the auction...

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Here's an old showcard/poster, and a couple of billheads...

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Here's what the stuff looks like that they sell today:

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When Murray's still made it, all the way up until the factory closure, it came in a foil pack which looked like this:

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The old factory.

Whitehall Tobacco Works
1A Linfield Road
Belfast
BT12 5GN
Ulster

 Nice little item Philofumo..That Murray & Sons building looks very impressive..Thanks for showing.

 Hi philofumo,

Thats a nice "Warrior Plug" shelf strip and great info on the Murrays Manufacturing Company which was founded in 1810. Their pipe tobacco's were very popular. Have posted my "Linch Pin" tobacco shelf strip with others. Have never seen the "Linch Pin" packet or tin.

bacco

 hi bacco,

 lovely shelf strips & well photographed, once again many thanks for showing.

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Many thanks for the pictures Bacco,
and now I know what these things are called - "shelf strips",
I'm still learning a lot and picking bits up as I go along,
something simple, like the word "showcard" was totally alien to me,
and knowing such terms helps greatly in finding examples online.

The Linch Pin is very interesting, the seller I got the WP strip from also had one of those, but I was content to just add it to my Murray's image archive as it doesn't invoke the same intense emotion that Warrior Plug does in me.

I've never seen a tin or packet either.

More than likely, a plug such as that would have been "band wrapped" ,

similar to these:

Likely,

most wrappers got torn off and tossed in the dustbin, making them extremely scarce to find today.


I do have a copy of the 1917 Tobacco Year Book and Linch Pin is listed,
sadly, that edition is the only copy I have of the Year Book,
ratty tatty and coverless at that!
But I cherish it.

Who knows really though?

This stuff is difficult to sort out.

Linch Pin could've been sold loose for all I know, or in packets?

I'd flip my wig if I saw a Warrior Plug packet -- cost would be no object!

= )

I'm just glad and very happy that there exists a dedicated group of active and engaged collectors keeping this stuff alive.

God bless the United Kingdom Tobacco Industry!

And,

God bless you gents here for expanding my knowledge base a hundredfold!

Thank You All!

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Just discovered this evening that the strip is coming from a forum member here,
rustytins,
too cool!

That cranks my motor even more!

vroom vroom

The Linch Pin strip is here, if ye be innerest'd...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Murrays-L...33a95cb172

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 Your in safe hands Phil..