The heyday of the collectable picture card, commonly referred to as the ‘cigarette card’, but which also included cards issued by other firms, which occurred from the 1880s to the outbreak of the Second World War, was a period of huge social, cultural, political, military and technological change. It saw two world wars, the rise of the Hollywood film industry, the development of motor and air transport, the transformation of sporting stars into household names and a huge expansion in education for the masses. These changes were both reflected and supported by the cigarette and trade card. Since the Second World War, the production of collectable cards with tobacco products has declined, but in its place the collection of cards given away with other grocery products, and cards designed to be bought in their own right, has grown, thus meaning the practice of card collecting, or cartophily, continues to develop today.
The ability to mass-produce such an attractive and appealing array of cards was the result of rapid improvements in colour printing technology and the need to produce effective advertising for an ever-expanding consumer market. Books were still expensive relative to disposable household income, so cigarette cards provided a wealth of knowledge that would otherwise have been beyond the reach of millions of people, in an appealing and easily digestible form. Each complete set of cards formed a mini-encyclopaedia on the given subject.
Unlike similar collectable items, such as stamps and postcards, cigarette and trade cards were designed to be collected as their primary raison d’être, and for some the addiction of collecting a full set could match the addiction of the tobacco products themselves. Today the picture cards remain highly collectable as their subjects are so varied – there is a topic to suit everyone’s interest. Original cigarette and trade cards are masterpieces in miniature, with the standard sized card being 36 x 68mm. As Jefferson R. Burdick, the renowned American card collector, put it:
A Card Collection is a magic carpet that takes you away from the work-a-day cares to havens of relaxing quietude where you can relive the pleasures and adventures of a past day – brought to life in vivid picture and prose. Here is a phase of our heritage without which history has no full meaning, and only history can help man to understand the past and present for the future. This is history from an original source.
Cards depict the devastation of nature’s fury, the crashing armies of conquering nations, and the increasingly mad whirl of modern existence. They also show the serenity of a quiet country life, the gracious humility of those called great, the joyous romp of children on Christmas morning, and a thousand other homely things we love to remember. Every set of cards is a glorious picture window of the past. Pen, brush and camera have joined forces with the graphic arts to bring to life these groups of pictorial gems. Their important role in our past is now receiving a just recognition. History cannot ignore them and be complete. (Jefferson R. Burdick, The Standard Guide on All Collection Cards, 1980)
This book is not the first to portray the world of cigarette and trade card collecting. I.O. Evans produced Cigarette Cards and How to Collect Them in 1937. In the mid-1940s Alfred J. Cruse brought out All About Cigarette Cards. Nearly two decades later, Dorothy Bagnall’s Collecting Cigarette Cards and Other Trade Issues appeared in 1965. Roy Genders’ A Guide to Collecting Trade and Cigarette Cards was published in 1975, and renowned trader Martin Murray’s The Story of Cigarette Cards came out in 1987. Most recently Gordon Howsden’s Collecting Cigarette & Trade Cards was published in 1995. All of these books are now out of print, but available through various specialist outlets, and give an overview of how the hobby of cartophily has evolved over the decades. In addition, scores of books are available which focus on specific card issue companies and collecting themes.
In many ways, there has never been a better time to begin card collecting. There is now a wider variety of sources from which to purchase cards than ever before, and fewer collectors, especially of the older cigarette cards, than there were in previous decades. Thus cards in general have become more easily accessible and affordable. The selection of topics included here aims to provide a general overview of the broad spectrum of card issues available. The selection of cards highlighted is a personal one. Every reader would be able to make a similarly broad but individually unique choice of interesting and worthwhile cards, such is the richness and depth of the subject matter. Each of the chapter headings would warrant a full book, which space does not permit. The author has not set out to write an overly technical guide to cartophily, but an introduction for those relatively new to the hobby. However, it is hoped that even the most experienced cartophilist will find something new to add to his or her enjoyment of the subject.
The focus here is largely on British-issue cards, as they offer a window into the world of the customs, beliefs, practices and cultural assumptions of our grandparents and great-grandparents. These generations lived, as do we, through an era of revolutionary change in many aspects of life. It is sometimes tempting to look back and see their world as static, frozen in a moment in time. However, by taking the broad sweep of cigarette, trade and trading cards as a whole, it is possible to see the world through the eyes of the past. Collectable cards can be a voice speaking to us from recent but vanished times, and for many, the thrill of holding something many decades old gives an immediacy of connection to our forebears. They can help us to interpret the world around us in a fresh light and enrich our experience of life. I hope you enjoy this journey through the world of cards as much as I have enjoyed writing it, and embark on your own voyage of discovery and fulfilment.