News
Garber Announces Advisory Committee for Harvard Law School Dean Search
News
First Harvard Prize Book in Kosovo Established by Harvard Alumni
News
Ryan Murdock ’25 Remembered as Dedicated Advocate and Caring Friend
News
Harvard Faculty Appeal Temporary Suspensions From Widener Library
News
Man Who Managed Clients for High-End Cambridge Brothel Network Pleads Guilty
The staunch red skin who stares with uplifted arm across Mt. Auburn Street from his concrete pedestal in front of Arthur's English Smoke Shop is one of the last survivors of the tribe of wooden Indians that formerly guarded the entrance of cigar stores throughout the United States.
During the recent Democratic Convention in New York City the American Tobacco Company secured a collection of six of the Indians which were placed on exhibit in the Convention Club. They declared that they believed that these six were the only ones left in the United States. The Indian in front of Arthur's Smoke Shop, if these figures are correct, is the seventh of the almost extinct species.
Mr. Arthur Clement, the proprietor of the shop, in a recent interview declared that when he had started in business for himself last year he had made an attempt to secure some distinctive insignin to announce to the public that he was conducting a real old fashioned tobacco shop. His brother, who conducts the Book Shop on Dunster Street, remembered that in his childhood there had been a wooden Indian in his home town of Rutland, Vermont.
Mr. Clement took a trip to Rutland and found the old warrior, well worn and shabby, in an abandoned barn. He had it shipped to Cambridge by express and handed him over to a painter who spruced it up and put on some fresh war paint.
During his Freshman year at Harvard the Indian has gone through many hazardous experiences, according to Mr. Clement. A group of jesters last year took it upon themselves to add to the warrior's primitive dress. In the morning the Indian was found dressed up in Klassy Kollege Klethes. On another occasion a football fan attempted to tackle the redman's sturdy legs and almost broke them.
The brave is set in three feet of concrete to prevent his removal by any jovial funmakers. Except for his up raised right arm, he is carved from one solid piece of wood.
Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.