Made myself a Bull Durham tobacco pouch

[Ben Beam]

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Tobacco was certainly the best friend for a countless number of cowboys on the trail, and Bull Durham was certainly one of the more popular brands (three pouches for 5 cents!). You can buy genuine Bull Durham pouches on eBay, although most of them date to the 30s or 40s, and they generally look worse for wear. I purchased an earlier one that was in decent shape and then did an autopsy on it to see how it was constructed and to scan in the various components at 1200 DPI. I then cleaned them up in Photoshop and set about finding a way to recreate it.

The band that goes around the pouch as well as the Durham label were originally printed with gold inks, which I simulated by using two different gold papers, which matches it perfectly. The tax stamp I opted to modify slightly so it couldn't be confused with a genuine original, although the modified portion is covered by the other labels so you'd never know. There were multiple versions of the rolling papers that came with pouches, including at least two versions of the Rizla, so I recreated the earliest (and yes, if you remove the pack it has the instructions inside for rolling a cigarette, and has the papers as well). I found some muslin pouches with gold string to match the originals, although no one makes pouches in exactly the same size as the original, so it's just a tad bigger. And to finish it off I filled it with some crushed popcorn to give it shape. The original tobacco left grit everywhere!

I'm very pleased with the results; it looks like a brand new pouch off the grocer's shelf.

https://imgur.com/a/38JPH

[dusty texian]

That looks great! Amazing work! ,,DT

[Coal Creek Griff]

That is very impressive!

CC Griff

[Forty Rod]

Y'oughta sell those.  If the price were right I'd buy a dozen just to have them.

[Shawnee McGrutt]

Great job of reproducing that pouch. 
Looks just like the ones my grandfather use to get.

[Ben Beam]

y'oughta sell those.  If the price were right I'd buy a dozen just to have them.

Funny you should mention that...I'm working on putting together some sort of package of reproduced items that someone might have on his person. I'm compiling original items that are appropriate to the period, scanning them in and doing a lot of cleanup to make them "new." Not sure everything that's going to be in it yet, but it'll likely include letters, old bottle labels that one can affix to a bottle (most flea markets have old bottles available for cheap), the tobacco pouch, and a few other items. I'm open to suggestions as well. I may include a custom business card in a style appropriate for the time if there's a demand.

[Forty Rod]

Sounds like a real career if you want it to be.

Cigarette papers, cigar bands, post cards, advertisements like a man (or woman) might save or carry in a pocket, commercial "Mother Hubbards" given as sales gimmicks we could add our own needles and thread), and other such stuff..... might be something someone like I would want.

I may have other idea to come.  I'll ask around.

[El Peludo]

Nice reproduction.  I have a few of those - somewhere; used them quite a bit once upon a time.

[Forty Rod]

A lady friend suggested packs for needles that carried advertising and period match box lid labels.

[Ben Beam]

I'll look into both of those. Thanks for the suggestions!

[Bunk Stagnerg]

Perfect is there the rolling papers on the back side? Used a many of them in my younger days. Less cost that factory made ones.
Bunk

[Ben Beam]

Yep, a pouch of Rizlas.

[Sergeant Klondike]

I agree with Forty Rod,  If you start selling them I would purchase some for our 1880's period correct chuckwagon.   I'm sure many of the chuckwagon folks would be interested.  We're always looking for period correct items to carry on the wagons and assist in living history displays. 

[Ben Beam]

I appreciate the enthusiasm! What started as a lark has actually turned into a much larger project. I'm working out the kinks now, but hopefully I'll have something to share soon. The tobacco pouches will be available as part of it. Not trying to be cryptic, but didn't want to ignore the requests I've gotten so far. Hang in there, I should have something to share soon. 

[Isbjorn]

So, how does it feel to be a Bull Durham tobacco pouch?

But seriously, be careful lighting that popcorn!

[Ben Beam]

Alright, I guess I'm finally ready to bite the bullet and share what I've been working on.
 Per the rules of the forum I can only point to my signature for now (hoping to change that soon).

[Shawnee McGrutt]

got to get a Bull Durham pouch

[Sergeant Klondike]

Received mine a few weeks ago.  Excellent quality!  Thanks Ben Beam & Company!

[Ben Beam]

Thanks! I actually just finally got registered with SASS and am now an Affiliated Merchant. Still waiting for my packet to arrive.

[Wapaloosie]

Incredible!

Got on your website and read about all the work that went into the whiskey label. Amazing!

Keep up the good work, and I will definitely be knocking on yer door in the future!

[Ben Beam]

Thanks! And check back often, as I'm currently adding new items every few days. I have a small backlog of items I need to finish cleaning up and then photographing.

As a note, I'm fully aware that pretty much everyone here knows more than me about all of this stuff. I'm always open to feedback if anyone has any suggestions (Forty Rod and txchuckcook have both already given valuable and greatly appreciated suggestions). Plus if there's anything people want I don't currently have, let me know. One thing that is coming is labels for ammo boxes. I've been amassing original labels from various brands and re-creating them in such a way that someone will be able to choose a size that works for the box they have and it can be resized without any distortion. Best of all, you'll be able to choose any caliber and have all of the imagery be correct (boy did that take some research and work!). It may be a couple weeks before those go live.