About cigarette cards

 

Tobacco cards, also known as cigarette cards, are a type of advertising card that were once popularly included in cigarette packs. These cards typically feature images of celebrities, athletes, historical figures, animals, or other popular subjects. The history of tobacco cards dates back to the late 19th century, when companies began using them as a way to promote their tobacco products. Over time, the cards became highly collectible, and many people began to save them as a way to commemorate their favorite brands or figures. Today, tobacco cards remain a fascinating relic of advertising and popular culture history.

Are you looking for unique and timeless gift ideas to surprise your friends and family? Look no further than tobacco cards! These vintage collectibles feature beautiful images of famous athletes, actors, and historical figures, making them the perfect gift for sports enthusiasts, history buffs, and art lovers alike.

Not only are tobacco cards great conversation starters, but they're also a unique way to add personality and charm to any home decor. Display them in an elegant frame or use them to create a one-of-a-kind collage that will impress and inspire guests.

And with a wide range of options to choose from, including rare and hard-to-find editions, you can curate a collection that is as unique as the person you're gifting it to. So why settle for ordinary gifts when you can give the timeless beauty of tobacco cards? Start your collection today and share the magic of these vintage treasures with your loved ones.

Tobacco cards, also known as cigarette cards, are a type of advertising card that were once popularly included in cigarette packs. The cards popularity peaked in the golden age of the 1920’s and 1930’s and typically featured images on the front and reference material on their reverse side for popular and cultural subjects of the time from almost every topic of interest in the world. They often covered subjects people could not find detailed info on in any other way and were hugely popular.

The history of tobacco cards dates back to the late 19th century, when companies began using them as a way to promote their tobacco products. Over time, the cards became highly collectible, and many people began to save them as a way to commemorate their favourite brands or figures. Today, tobacco cards remain a fascinating relic of advertising and popular culture history.

If you are looking for a unique and timeless gift idea to surprise your friends and family, then please consider a set of tobacco cards! These vintage collectibles feature beautiful images of almost all hobbies and topics you could imagine, making them the perfect gift for anyone with a treasured hobby, interest, a collector, history buffs, and art lovers alike.

Not only are tobacco cards great conversation starters, but they're also a unique way to add personality and charm to any home décor, place of work or association. We offer many of the harder to find series as pristine reprints for display in a specially designed elegant double sided glass frame that allows you to also see the reference material on the backs of the cards, keeps them in pristine condition and creates a one-of-a-kind elegant and impressive display to inspire guests or loved ones. Please see our site for more details.

And with a still wider range of subjects to choose from in originals, please enquire if there is a particular topic you wish to find editions for as we have connections to source almost every hard-to-find editions that are as unique as the person you're gifting them to. So why settle for ordinary gifts when you can give the timeless beauty of tobacco cards? Choose between reprints or originals and consider these as a gift or start your collection today. Share the magic of these vintage treasures with your loved ones.

 

 

 

History

 

Beginning in 1875, cards depicting actresses, baseball players, Native American chiefs, boxers, national flags, or wild animals were issued by the U.S.-based Allen & Ginter tobacco company. These are considered to be some of the first cigarette cards. Other tobacco companies such as Goodwin & Co. soon followed suit. They first emerged in the U.S., then the UK, then, eventually, in many other countries.

In the UK, W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1887 were one of the first companies to include advertising cards with their cigarettes, but it was John Player & Sons in 1893 that produced one of the first general interest sets 'Castles and Abbeys'.

Thomas Ogden soon followed in 1894 and in 1895, Wills produced their first set 'Ships and Sailors', followed by 'Cricketers' in 1896. In 1906, Ogden's produced a set of association football cards depicting footballers in their club colours, in one of the first full-colour sets.

Each set of cards typically consisted of 25 or 50 related subjects, but series of over 100 cards per issue are known. Popular themes were 'beauties' (famous actresses, film stars and models), sporters (in the U.S. mainly baseball, in the rest of the world mainly football and cricket), nature, military heroes and uniforms, heraldry, locomotives, and city views.

Today, for example, sports and military historians study these cards for details on uniform design or to find detailed information found so rarely in other print mediums.

Some very early cigarette cards were printed on silk which was then attached to a paper backing. They were discontinued in order to save paper during World War II, and never fully reintroduced thereafter.

World record price

The most valuable cigarette card in the world features Honus Wagner, one of the great names in U.S. baseball at the turn of the 20th century. The T206 Honus Wagner has repeatedly set records at auction, most recently in 2016 when it sold for $3,120,000. Wagner was a dedicated non-smoker and objected when America's biggest tobacco corporation planned to picture him on a cigarette card without his permission. Threats of legal action prevented its release, but a few slipped out, and it was one of these that stunned the collecting world when it was auctioned.

 

Other cigarette cards

Another notable and sought-after set of cards is the untitled series issued by Taddy and known by collectors as "Clowns and Circus Artistes". While not the rarest cards in existence (there are a number of series in which only one known example remains), they are still very rare and command high prices whenever they come up for auction.

Apart from these examples, there are also cigarette cards that do not focus on people, but on cities or flags.

 

World of cigarette cards

Mainly split into 3 categories

Tobacco cards from late 18^th century to beginning of 2^nd World War (over 6,000 series)

Trade cards (issued by other than tobacco companies) from the 1950’s to present day (over 8,000 series)

Reprint cards copies from rare and unobtainable series mostly made in the 1980’s to early 2000’s (over 400 series)

 

 

 

Meet the collector behind the cards

Collecting seems to have been in my blood from a young age, be it trade cards from cereal boxes from tea packets or even chewing gum, I was always fascinated in learning more about and in collecting cards from various companies, but this same feeling also went for stamps, coins and many other things in my youth. Later my interest evolved also into cigarette cards too (after a present of some cards from my father), as with trade cards, they offered a specialised window of knowledge into many obscure subjects from days gone by.

After leaving the UK at 20, most of my collecting hobbies went on hold until arriving in Japan some 2 years later where my interest then continued in such things as match boxes, telephone cards and Japanese wood block prints to name but a few.

While the cards themselves are of great interest to many who love history and the past, I had really wanted to bring them more to life by showcasing them in double glass frames for everyone’s pleasure. For a time in my late 20’s, I begun selling them to discerning clients for display and as gifts but then opted for promoting manufactured products that could be sold in more volume to clients.

Now as I approach retirement, it is my love of these cards that has made me wish to return to their promotion and sale once again. Many of the rarer cards most people have never set eyes on, but because of this, a large number of reprint series were produced from the 1980’s to this day for people to enjoy. Some 400 sets are presently available although even the reprint sets are rarely produced today and slowly becoming history themselves, only to become collectors items in their own right.

Really hope you can find something of interest for you or as a gift to someone special, as almost every subject has a set to its name and all are within reasonable price points depending on the frame size. B to B they can add charm to your home, office or space and soon become a talking point in any location. B to C will also be part of our sales audience so please enquire for more details if you think these items may appeal to your store or sales outlet.

Gary A Leavey