Embossing had an unintended but desirous effect. Most early labels were printed on cheap short-fiber paper often containing wood cellulose. With age, this paper discolored and became brittle. The final result is that a label, printed 100 years ago on acid- free rag paper, now appears clean and bright with no signs of aging. Stone chromolithography produced a brilliant multi-colored duplication of the original art work.
Some labels look like oil paintings, brush strokes and all.
The brilliance of stone- produced chromolithography ebbed through the 1920s in synchronization with the slow decline experienced in the cigar industry. The end of an era was at hand. Photomechanical lithography had begun to take over the market even in the 20s, and sadly, printers, no longer used 38-ton presses to emboss their labels, nor did they have to use 10 to 13 colors in a single image. Now, they could get by with only four colors. The art of the cigar label was quickly coming to an end.