Chesterfield – 1945 Armed Forces Carton

Full soft pack of 20 cigarettes with inner foil wrapping, cellophane wrapper and a free of tax or taxpaid stamp on the top which was added to cigarette packs that had the tax paid by the manufacturer for shipment overseas to the Armed Forces during WWII. With the wording «Free of Tax - For military or naval forces in Alaska and Hawaii, or for outside the jurisdiction of the internal revenue laws of the United States».

Chesterfield Cigarettes, full 200-cigarette carton containing ten 20-cigarette packets. Acquired from a German family who found the cigarettes in their grandfather’s attic, stored in a suitcase for around 80 years. His wife and daughters returned from China to Munich in 1935, while he remained until the end of WWII, when the Soviet advance into northern China forced his departure. He brought one Ruby Queen pack and one carton back with him. During the U.S. occupation of Munich, the family home was requisitioned, and troops later left behind three full cartons of Marlboro, one full carton of Chesterfield, about 60 Philip Morris packs, seven Old Gold, four Raleigh and one Camel pack, all bearing wartime tax-free stamps. These were stored together and rediscovered decades later. Provenance based on family history.