SARASOTA, FLA. — Advertising, signs, coins, firearms and more crossed the block at Freedom Auction Company on January 14 in the firm’s Gentleman’s Americana auction. The group of tobacciana in the Joseph J. Hruby collection was top lot, achieving $15,325 with premium. Hruby’s collection was billed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest collection of cigar bands in the world. More than 250,000 examples were sold in the auction among 25 lots. Brian Hollifield, owner of Freedom Auction Company, provided some biographical information on Hruby, who was born in 1912 in Cleveland, Ohio. “In the early 1920s, a local pharmacy ran a contest offering a prize to whoever could collect the most cigar bands. Joe found the street gutters a treasure trove of discarded cigar bands and was fascinated by the variety of bands he discovered. His collection had begun, and he completely forgot to enter the contest! Over the 80 years that followed, Hruby developed correspondences with other cigar band collectors around the world while working full time for 50 years in the offices of the Nickel Plate Railroad and then its successor, the Norfolk & Western Railway. During World War II Hruby served in the US Army in Europe. Upon his return he continued mostly “trading” bands with other members of the many cigar band clubs and publications that were so popular at the time. It was not uncommon for Hruby to be cited and referenced in newspapers, periodicals and books. In 1988, Hruby earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest cigar band collection. At the time of Hruby’s death in 2005, his collection had grown to more than 200,000 different cigar bands dating as far back as 1895 and almost that number of extra bands. Quite an achievement for a gentleman who never smoked a cigar! Additional highlights from this sale will be discussed in a later issue.