cigar-store Indian

American  

[si-gahr-stawr, -stohr] / sɪˈgɑrˌstɔr, -ˌstoʊr /

noun

1. a wooden statue of an American Indian, traditionally displayed at the entrance of cigar stores.

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Etymology

Origin of cigar-store Indian

First recorded in 1925–30

Example Sentences

In Mr. Smith’s house you’ll find more than two dozen antique weather vanes featuring sculpted animals, hundreds of miniature toy soldiers battling on the shelves and a cigar-store Indian.

From New York Times • Oct. 30, 2019

The pig is a carved wooden sculpture that stands like a cigar-store Indian, perpetually waving, outside Rudy’s, on Ninth Avenue near 44th Street.

From New York Times • Oct. 17, 2014

She began to buy American folk art early in the 20th century, starting with a cigar-store Indian.

From New York Times • May 19, 2011

A spirited hillbilly song about a cigar-store Indian who hides his longings beneath a wooden exterior.

From Time Magazine Archive

That talk between the knight and the cigar-store Indian is yours, Nan; and the place where he finds the militia drilling and chases the colonel into the creek is yours, daddy!

From Otherwise Phyllis by Gibson, Charles Dana