Imperial Russia Portcigar

[Chuck In Oregon]

Portcigar is what my FSU friends call these. It's a cigarette case to me but I defer.

I've been lucky to find a few of these over the years. I'm keeping this one because it fits nicely into my Imperial Medical collection. It's in particularly nice condition. The elastics are missing, as they almost always are, elastic being a non-durable item although I have found a few old examples with intact elastics. I especially enjoy things that are dated and attributed.

Tiflis on the front. On the back, To Alexander Feodorovich Borisenko on the Day of Angels from the Doctors and Mercy Sisters of Lazarette #17, Chief of Staff Transcausasus Military District September 28 1916.

The Day of Angels is his name day, right? His birthday and honors the saint he was named for? Something like that, I think.

Don't we have a thread on cigarette cases somewhere?

Chuck

[Chuck In Oregon]

And here's the reverse:

[Chuck In Oregon]

And inside:

[Chuck In Oregon]

BTW, this thing is too heavy for my electronic scale. On my old-fashioned mechanical postal scale it is four ounces of 84 silver. It is 114.12 mm tall by 78.39 mm wide.

That spot that looks like a hole, in the top right corner on the front? That's a small blue stone, like a tiny sapphire.

How the heck did I forget to add these details?