Posted 13 years ago
stepback_a…
(363 items)
For five years I have seen this Indian standing in a window of a local antique store. He was not for sale. Through the years I have asked several times and was told he was not for sale. Recently, I was finally able to buy him after having a conversation with the owner. All this time I thought the figure was made of chalkware, but after seeing it up close, it is made from some type of foam. It was made in the style of a late 1800's cigar store indian and stands nearly 24" tall. The company that made it was ALFCO-NY. I was not able to find out much about the company since they went out of business in the early 1970's. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
They seemed to only be in business from the 60's to the 70's. I found some of these Indians but all on worthpoint, and I'm not a member. The good news is the short amount of time they were in business helps the value of pieces like these. To get the true value I would want to see what they went for before the economy went into the toilet.
Thanks Vestaswind for your help. Much appreciated. I found a site called blowmoldsrus which can give me some additional information.
I have a beautiful Cigar Store Indian which stand approximately 24" tall and was made by ALFCO-NY. This piece is in near perfect condition and I have owned it for numerous years. ALFCO is no longer in business, so finding any information on this item has been difficult. Any help is appreciated.
I too seen an exact indian standing out front of a cigar store here in Terre Haute when I was just a kid. I fell in love with it because we are from Montana and there are wonderful wooden Indians at Glacier Park. I swore I would own him one day. Several years later, the owners sold the shop and took him with them to Wisconsin. About 20 years ago, she died and he was sold at auction and believe it or not, the used furniture guy a block away from me bought him and put him out to sell!!!! I couldn't believe. He stands stately in our den now and looks very proud. I truly had no idea the history behind him until I read this. He is 57" tall and has a dig on his arm that I repaired. But other than that he has not been repainted or anything.
Afriend of mine in the 80's became obsessed with getting an original cigar store indian(Living in Koliga, AL + hank Williams may have been a factor). Originals were really expensive so he searched for a repro.. All the repro "originals" were made in the orient & had a slight oriental face. What a turn-off!
After admiring your statue, I noticed your Indian is saluting and mine is holding a peace pipe. Interesting!