Chauncey Olcott

by David Strebe

In a recent edition of the Gazette, Silas Bass wrote a very interesting article on Garry Owen, the title of an inexpensive cigar label. I already knew what Gary Owen was. As an old movie buff, I recognized this as the title of the great stirring song in "They Cried with Their Boots On" an as the opening music in that wonderful James Cagney film "The Fighting 69!"

Still, I was fascinated by idea that a simple, non-pictorial cigar label can have such a hidden bit of history behind it. Reading Si’s article inspired me to look through my labels and see if I had any with a similar story attached to it. Brings! I came up with "Chauncy Olcott" (See picture below).

This is a simple label with the name inscribed and a small picture of an Irish harp and some shamrocks. Who was this Chauncy Olcott? A little research reveals that he was a popular Irish-American actor, singer, and song writer at the turn of the century. He wrote the words to "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and both the words and music to "My Wild Irish Rose." He was born in Buffalo in 1860 and died in 1932.

If any collectors out there have a label with an interesting history or story behind it, feel free to share it with the readers of the Gazette.

Copyright © 1997 The Cigar-Label Gazette, P.O. Box 3, Lake Forest, CA 92630