New in the collection: Tobacco auction poster

Sales card for Smithfield Tobacco Market

By 1973 the Surgeon General’s report had sent North Carolina’s tobacco industry into steady decline, but you couldn’t tell it from this enthusiastic schedule poster for “the market that sells itself.”

WMPM’s call letters once stood for World’s Most Progressive Market.

New in the collection: Oxford tobacco license plate

.

As early as 1913, North Carolina municipalities were empowered to collect local taxes by issuing license plates. The most recent I’ve seen: Blowing Rock 2010.

Most only named the town, but some took the opportunity to self-promote. Take that, Wilson and Tarboro and Rocky Mount!