Zionist Settlement History Dubek Cigarettes Album Documenting Jewish Agricultural, Industrial, and Security Development in British Mandatory Palestine, 1930s–1940s.

Israel: British Mandatory Palestine

Photograph

Dubek Cigarettes photographic album of British Mandatory Palestine produced in the 1930s–1940s documents the development of Jewish agricultural settlements, industry, security organizations, and cultural institutions within the Yishuv during the late Mandate period. The album presents a visual narrative of Zionist nation building through images of collective agricultural labor, industrial production, settlement construction, and educational life. Such imagery circulated widely in the interwar and wartime decades as part of broader efforts to promote Jewish settlement in Palestine and to demonstrate the institutional capacity of the Yishuv to sustain a modern society. The photographs therefore document a formative phase in the development of Jewish communal infrastructure and social organization prior to the establishment of the State of Israel.

Dubek Cigarettes. Album of British Mandatory Palestine. Palestine: Dubek Cigarettes, circa 1930s–1940s. Hebrew language cigarette card album containing 200 black and white photographic cards mounted within printed pages accompanied by Hebrew captions and descriptions. The photographs depict agricultural labor associated with kibbutz communities, including images of women harvesting crops, working in fisheries, and participating in factory production. Additional cards document industrial development such as textile production, citrus agriculture and export, and cigarette manufacturing. Several sections show security and defense activity including Jewish guards, patrols, and fortified settlements associated with protective measures adopted by Jewish communities during the Mandate period. Other photographs highlight infrastructure including bridges, roads, water towers, and public buildings, along with educational and cultural institutions such as libraries, schools, and youth activities. Scenes of public gatherings and celebrations further emphasize the formation of communal identity within the Jewish population of Palestine.

During the final decades of British administration in Palestine, Jewish settlement expanded through organized agricultural collectives, urban development, and new infrastructure projects supported by Zionist institutions. Visual publications such as cigarette card albums functioned both as educational materials and as popular visual media presenting the progress of Jewish settlement and economic development. Images of collective labor, fortified communities, and modern infrastructure illustrate the practical and ideological foundations of the Yishuv’s political aspirations during the Mandate era. Folio album in original illustrated stiff wrappers with string binding, containing 200 mounted cigarette cards with printed Hebrew captions. Moderate wear to covers with edge rubbing, toning, and light soiling; interior pages show mild foxing with cards largely well preserved, a few slightly lifting but present. Overall good condition. The album offers a substantial photographic record of Jewish settlement activity and institutional life in Mandatory Palestine during the decades preceding Israeli statehood.

Item #21345

Price: $1,800.00