Scarce 1920's Football Car Trading Cards by DC Thomson in 1929 Cliff Bastin Arsenal, Hughie Gallacher Chelsea FC

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Thomson, publishers of boy’s magazines/comics, wanted to appeal to the widest possible market and what better way to achieve this than by producing double sided cards featuring both talented Association Footballers of the day and coveted motor cars. Thomson was very brave in its experimentation with new and innovative trading card set designs. I believe this rare card series is the earliest double sided set ever to be issued.

Footballers featured include Cliff Bastin, who overcame his hearing disability to become one of Arsenal’s greatest forwards of all time, the talented Hughie Gallacher, who tragically ended his life by throwing himself under a train in 1957, and many other popular footballers from the 1920s.

The reverse of the set depicts legendary 1920’s classic cars by Bugatti, Rolls Royce, Buick, Daimler, Austin, Hillman, Wolseley and many more.

DC Thomson (Boy's Comics / Magazines) , Footballers - Motor Cars (Double-Sided) , 1929 (24 cards)

Includes:Hughie Gallacher - Chelsea FC, J. Hampson - Blackpool Football Club, RGC Peden - Queen's Park Rangers, Cliff Bastin - Arsenal, A McPherson - Liverpool FC, J Stein - Everton, T Lloyd - Bradford FC, R Williams - Swansea Town FC, A Cunliffe - Blackburn Rovers,, P O'Dowd - Burnley FC, H Hibbs - Birmingham S Weaver - Newcastle United FC, M Hooper - Sheffield Wednesday, J Connor - Sunderland FC, GH Smithies - Preston North End FC, J Easson - Portsmouth Fc, T Tait - Manchester City, D Duncan - Hull City, B Yorston, - Aberdeen, J Dunn - Sheffield United FC, A. Jackson - Huddersfield FC, D Gray - Rangers FC, S Littlewood - Oldham Athletic FC, ACJ German - Notts Forest FC, Arrol Aster 8 Car, Austin 20, Bentley Car, 1920's Bugatti Motor Car, Buick, Daimler Double Six,, Duesenberg, Franklin, Hillman 8, Hispano Suiza, Isotta Fraschini, Lagonda, Lancia, Lea Francis, Mercedes Benz, Minerva, Morris Isis Six, Rolls Royce, Singer Six, Singer 6, Sunbeam Car, Wolseley Hornet, Trojan, Tracta Front

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1920's Strange Sports Trading Cards by Liebig Extract of Meat Co Includes Clowns Sailors Motor Cars etc

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Liebig Extract of Meat Co , Humorous Sports (S1232), 1929 (6cards)

Sport has always been very popular among many card collectors. Liebig issued a set of Humorous Sports, 1929. After seeing one of the cards depicting a motor car driver wielding a decapitated head (probably not real LOL ) mounted on a spike, you maybe forgiven in thinking that people in the 1920s had a twisted sense of humour. However, when you observe the remaining cards of Northern Africans hopping like kangaroos in hessian sacks, men dressed in just underwear jumping through dangling oak barrels and sailors racing wheel barrows I’m sure that you’d agree that we still share a lot in common with our forefathers’ desire for amusement.

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1950's Pin-Up Girls (Risque Vintage Erotica) Cigarette Cards by Phillip Allman and Co 1953

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1950's Pin-Up Girls (Vintage Erotica)

There were many casualties during WW2 and one of them was the cigarette card. Due to severe paper rationing card production came to a virtual standstill. The huge tobacco empires that the cards had helped promote and build up from small businesses decided to turn their backs on future card production at the end of the war. Only a handful of true cigarette card series were ever issued after WW2 and this Pin-Up girl set, by Allman, is one of those rare treasures. It features artwork of pin-up girls. This genre of art was popularized by artists such as Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren, and George Petty.

Phillip Allman and Co, Pin Up Girls, 1st (Unnumbered, "For Men Only"), 1953 (12 cards)

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1960's Rock and Roll Music History Trading Cards Of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Cliff Richard .... by Kane Products (Large)

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Birth Of The Rock Revolution

Rock and Roll music originated in the USA and fused together several existing genres of music in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and quickly spread throughout most of the world. A few of the legendary figures who played an important role in popularizing this new breed of music are featured in this card set: Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and the Crickets, and Cliff Richard.....

Kane Products, Disc Stars (Large), 1960 (50 cards)

Includes:Winifred Atwell, Max Bygraves, David Whitfield, Paul Anka, Anne Shelton, Davie King, Laurie London, Petula Clark, Elvis Presley, Frankie Vaughan, Ray Ellington, Guy Mitchell, Mantovani, Cleo Laine, Dickie Valentine, Buddy Holly and the Crickets,, Teddy Johnson, Joan Regan, Dennis Lotis, Johnny Ray, Pat Boone, Ruby Murray, Frankie Laine, Norman Wisdom, Harry Belafonte, Eddie Fisher, Jackie Dennis, Toni Dalli, Bernard Bresslaw, Ronnie Hilton, Eddie Calvert, Cliff Richard, Marion Ryan, Jim Dale,, Glen Mason, Don Lang, Yana, Connie Francis, The Kalin Twins, Humphrey Littleton, Rosemary Squires, Ronnie Carroll, Malcolm Vaughan, Alma Cogan, Michael Holliday, Pearl Carr, Frank Sinatra, Lonnie Donegan, Johnny Dankworth

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Scarce Silent Film Star Cigarette Cards Of Lon Chaney, Marion Davies, Colleen Moore, Jackie Coogan .... By R and J Hill

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The End Of An Era

Although this rare set of cards features many of the movie icons from the silent era, it was issued in 1932 when the inclusion of sound was becoming more popular. Sadly, many of the careers of these early icons fell silent as they struggled to cope with the advent of the talkies. Marion Davies, despite her slight stutter, managed to continue acting in the movies well into the 1930s. Lon Chaney’s life was cut short by an illness before he could properly prove himself in the new era. His versatile voice and wide range of talents would have served him well during this formidable transition. Chaney’s mastery of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted characters have made cigarette cards and trading cards that feature him firm favourites of collectors of early movie memorabilia.

R and J Hill, Famous Cinema Celebrities, Series D (No Brand), 1932 (50 cards)

Includes:Harold Lloyd, Claire Windsor, Laura La Plante, Estelle Taylor, Alice Terry, Antonio Moreno, Ramon Novarro, Norman Shearer, May McAvoy, William Haines, Conrad Nagel, Rin Tin-Tin, John Gilbert, Pauline Starke, Lon Chaney, Renee Adoree, Patsy Ruth Miller,, Dlores Costello, Irene Rich, John Stuart, Jack Mulhall, Ruth Roland, Corinne Griffith, Norma Talmadge, Coleen Moore, Pat O'Mally, Jack Holt, Dorothy Gish, Agnes Ayres, Richard Barthlemess, James Kirkwood, Leatrice Joy, Wesley Barry, Betty Blythe,, Lew Cody, Richard Cortez, Jackie Coogan, Alice Terry, Gloria Swanson, Marion Davies, Betty Compson, Doris Kenyon, Conway Tearle, Mary Philbin, Alice Joyce, Renee Adoree, Dorothy Mackaill, Alice White, Yola D'avril,

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Oldest Cigarette Card In The World (Collectibles)

Early Cigarette Cards

Stiff cards were inserted into fragile packets of cigarettes in the 19th century to prevent them from crushing. The cigarette card evolved from the idea of printing an advertisement on this "stiffener" card. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the first cigarette card was issued since records are sparse. The earliest cigarette card to be positively dated depicts a picture of the Marquis of Lorne. This card was issued in packets of cigarettes of the same name. A journal and advertisement, dated 1879, make reference to this.

In 1976, Mr Edward Wharton-Tiger discovered an American cigar card issued by R.C. Brown, the picture of which depicted a gentleman holding a card dated 1877.

R.C. Brown card thought to be one of the earliest known "tobacco insert cards", 1877-1879

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$1M Honus Wagner Baseball Cigarette Card American Tobacco Company T206 1909

The start of the millennium was very memorable for the cigarette card world. A Honus Wagner cigarette card, the "holy grail" of baseball cards, fetched a record $1.27 million on eBay, becoming the first card ever to exceed a million dollars. The buyer, Brian Siegel, paid almost double what the previous owner, Michael Gidwitz, had bought it for four years earlier, making it one of the most expensive items to be sold on eBay.

This legendary card was originally issued in the American Tobacco Company's T206 set in 1909. It was to be inserted in packets of cigarettes. Legend has it that the baseball player Honus Wagner objected to having his name and image associated with smoking. It is believed that only 50-60 cards were ever produced.

Honus Wagner was a Major League Baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936.

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