1930s Art Deco Style Bellhop antique hand-painted tin Very thin walled porcelain

Very thin walled porcelain

The green-painted letters on one side

it's hollow on the interior so that the ends of whatever it's holding can slip down inside

one can just feel these things

with the earlier baccalarius altered by wordplay to baccalaureate in order to conform with bacca lauri--laurel berry--because of the laurels awarded to scholars

1930s Art Deco Style Bellhop antique hand-painted tin Very thin walled porcelainThough I didn't know it when I found him, I've since learned that this bellhop was produced in conjunction with a Philip Morris cigarette advertising campaign launched in 1933, and would once have carried either a bundle of cigarettes in one hand and a book of matches in the other (or else a cruet set; there were a couple of different versions produced, and I believe they were often displayed on hotel bars.) His baggage is long since gone, leaving his