Some of the tramp art craft is thought to have been done by prison inmates while others were made by family members merely to pass the time. Most of the work was anonymous however many similarities could be found in style. In the 19th century, cigar smoking was considered a sign of masculinity and affluence. Traditionally cigars were sold in bundles, but after 1850, wooden cigar boxesmade from exotic Brazilian mahogany and Spanish cedar came into use. Magnificantly presented cigar packaging quickly became a marketing tool.
Nothing ever changes.
Strict revenue laws prohibited cigar boxes from being reused for packaging cigars, but it was considered wasteful to discard the handsome wood. Tobacco shops sold used boxes for pennies to enterprising wood carvers. The rectangular shape and size of the cigar box simplified the construction of the frame for a piece of Tramp Art. Small works required a single box, whereas furniture was created by several boxes piled and nailed together. Once a framework was made, layers of wood were glued on top of one another in a pyramidal manner to build up the surface.