World’s 1st Car Ever and 1902 Motor Cars and Racing On Ogden’s Guinea Gold Cigarette Cards

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Transport has certainly come a long way over the last one-hundred odd years, from the horse drawn cart though to the indispensible modern-day motor car. OK, we’re not riding around in our own personal space ships, but motor cars have dramatically transformed our lives.

Deciding who invented the car, like with most inventions, depends on how you define it. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot is believed to have built the first self-propelled mechanical vehicle, the Cugnot Steam Trolley in 1769. It is generally acknowledged that the first really practical automobiles with petrol/gasoline-powered internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously by several German inventors working independently: Karl Benz built his first car in 1885 in Mannheim.

Early 20th century ephemera, especially cigarette cards and trading cards, provide us with a window to some of the first ever motor cars. I have a collection of 1902 motor car cigarette cards, issued by Ogden’s under their Guinea Gold brand. In those days, it was not so obvious what would become the dominant standard, whether it was the electric, steam or petroleum car. The makers of petrol engine cars got the upper hand by investing heavily in mass-production techniques.

Ogden (Guinea Gold), New Series 1 B, 1902 (Just Motor Car Related Cards)

Includes:"The Smallest Motor Car", Ricker on his Electric Car, The King In Hist Motor (King Edward VII), HM King Edward VII's DAimler Motor Carriage, The King's Motor Car, Misses Sevening and Edwardine, , Model of the first Motor ever made in America, Violet Vanbrugh, Mr. Weigel on his Motor Car, Motor Bus - Kilburn Marble Arch, Car of Sir Sydney Waterlow, Rougier Winner of a Race For Large Motors, Colomb on a Mors Car, Albert on a Darracq Car, Aubert on a Co Herean Car, De Montant on a Pengeot Car, Emery on Darracq Car, Laurent on a Brasier Car, Gordon Bennett Cup, A Mammoth Motor Car - 150HP, Pauline Chase & Nina Sevening & Adrienne Augarde & Carrie Moore, The Latest in Light Motor Cars, Louie Freear, Evie Greene and M May, Dust Trails Using Westrumite, Starley Car, His Majesty King Edward's Daimler Motor Carriage, The Bertrand Motor Carraige, M. Charroy's Panhard-Levassor, The Gordon-Brillie Landau, The Four Bridesmaids In Chinese Honeymoon, Mr JW Stocks on His Napier Car, L Movers on his Racing Car, M. Fournier's Mors - The Winner of the Race From Paris to Berlin 1901

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Early 1910′s Movie Stars Mary Pickford Mabel Normand Charlie Chaplin Alma Taylor Trading Cards

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The first ever cigarette card set devoted purely to movie stars, that I’ve found so far, is Cinematograph Actors, issued by Major Drapkin in 1913. I’ll be reviewing my collection of cards from that particular set in a future review.

This set, issued about 1916 by The Girl’s Friend periodical, doesn’t have a series title printed on the backs. Fortunately, it has been retrospectively named as Actresses in trading card literature.

As well as featuring actresses known more for their stage appearances, such as Calarice Maye, Daisy Dormer and Gladys Cooper, the very general title given to this set disguises the fact that it features several pioneering movie stars. One card is devoted to one of the first international movie stars, Mary Pickford. The description on the back of the Pickford card reveals that her latest film is “The Eternal Grind”, which, according to Wikipedia, came out in 1916, revealing the age of this card set. Mabel Normand also appears in this set and was a successful silent film comedienne and one of the film industry’s first female screenwriters, producers and directors. She also played an important part in launching Charlie Chaplin’s career.

This set also features Alma Taylor, who was a major British film star from the 1910s and 1920s and appeared in over 150 films. Despite her prolific film career there seems to be less about her online than her American contemporaries. Prior to WW1, Europe played a significant part in the movie industry but was over taken by the US during the war years.

Whilst the Europeans were consumed with killing each other in a mindless war, the US conquered the movie industry. As Winston Churchill once said, History is written by the victors. The USA wouldn’t just write history, it would broadcast it to the world and still does through the ultimate broadcasting medium, the internet.

Perhaps the European Union is a good thing after all. It’s better than all the thousands of European wars we had before it. I guess the choice is either greed and war or peace and compromise.

The card illustrations in this set were printed on material, often termed Silks in cigarette card circles, and backed with paper. The text on the backs of these material cards encourages the collectors to incorporate them into tea cosies, cushions, chair backs and other needlework projects. Well, these were the days before television, although that was soon about to change.

The Girls Friend (Periodical) , Actresses, circa 1916 (6 cards)

Includes:Clarice Mayne, Daisy Dormer, Mabel Normand, Gladys Cooper, Mary Pickford, Alma Taylor

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