WW1 Armoured Cars, WWI Tank Forerunner, Holt Caterpillar Tractor Cigarette Cards

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“Everything that can be invented has been invented”. Those were the famous words allegedly spoken by a commissioner at the US Patent Office, 1899. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The first half of the 20th century spawned more profound inventions than at any other time in the history of mankind. I have the privilege of owning a set of WW1 Military Motor cigarette cards that give us a glimpse of that turbulent time. A time where television hadn’t been invented and radio broadcasting wasn’t mainstream, and colourless newspapers were mainly read by the wealthy, educated elite.

WW1 was one of the most horrific and deadly wars in living history, killing 9 million combatants in less than a decade. What I find amazing about human beings is how, in the face of death, they can transform a bad situation into an opportunity for creating something good. Many wars have provided a springboard for developing new technologies. The internet was conceived during the Cold War between the US and Soviet Union. As we type away at our computers, perhaps we should consider the millions of dead victims without whom we wouldn’t have this technology at our finger tips.

Cigarette cards provide a window to the past and this military motor set is no exception. Military tanks were first used at the battle of Somme in August 1916, just a month before this set of cards was passed by censor. The allies probably wanted the tank to remain a secret at this early stage and that might be why it isn’t featured in this card set. However, the first tank designs were inspired by the armoured military motors shown in this set, such as the caterpillar tractor.

Trench warfare was very dirty, in more ways than one, and one card shows mobile baths for cleaning soldiers and their clothes. WW1 motor mechanics were very resourceful and one card shows that London buses were converted into troop carriers. Another card reveals an ambulance converted from an old French taxi and an ordinary motor car transformed into a railway engine.

Weary soldiers at the front line needed refreshment and one card features a mobile restaurant and another one a Red Cross soup kitchen for the wounded.

A number of different ambulances for wounded soldiers are featured in this set but, unusually, it also reveals a horse ambulance. Horses were still commonly used in WW1 and many were badly injured. An x-ray ambulance is shown towards the end of the card set. One card reveals the importance of studying human diseases in WW1 in the form of a mobile laboratory.

Old and new communication technologies worked side-by-side, as demonstrated by a card featuring a messenger pigeon cote and another card showing a motor vehicle for transporting wireless telegraphy (radio communication) equipment.

Aircraft, like military tanks, were first used for military purposes in World War One. These early military aeroplanes were not totally reliable and one card features a motor car that was used to transport an aviation mechanic and spare parts. Another card shows a motor lorry designed especially for carrying deflated air balloons. Manned balloons were still used for observation purposes in WW1.

Wills, Military Motors, 1916 (50 cards)

Includes:WW1 anti aircraft gun motor,World War One armoured car with grapnel,WWI armoured tricycle,World War 1 caterpillar tractor (Holt Tractor),motor baths,motor buses,motor cycle,motor cycle maxim,motor fortress,motor horse ambulance,motor disease and epedemic laboratory,motor raft,motor restaurant,motor searchlight,motor soup kitchen,officer's side car,wireless motor,motor lorry,motor searchlight,motor ambulance,Motor Ambulance Disguised,Motor Auto Gun,Motor Baloon Lorry,Motor Bus,Motor Cycle Ambulance,motor operating theatre,motor pigeon cote,motor railway engine,motor searchlight,motor tractor,motor wire cutter,king victor's car,motor transports,wireless motor,armoured cars,motor postal car,motor repairing shop,x-ray ambulance,armoured cars,motor ambulance

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Famous Footballers In the 1920s ( Hughie Gallacher ) On Cigarette cards by Gallaher

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Association football (soccer) started in the back yards of Victorian British public schools, but went on to become a global phenomenon for poor and rich alike. This happened in less than 100 years.

The most complete pictorial record of the early 20th century football pioneers can be found on cigarette cards and trading cards. These cards were issued at a time when television and radio were non-existent and colourless newspapers were read by the educated few. Gallaher was one of the firms that produced a number of footballer sets, including “Famous Footballers”, 1926. Although famous in their day, Hughie Gallacher is one of the few from this set to go on to become a timeless legend.

Gallaher, Famous Footballers (Brown Back, 50 cards), 1926

Includes:Josepth Smith of Bolton Wanderers,William Clunas of Sunderland,Harry Healless,Harry Storer Derby County,Fred W Kean of Sheffield Wednesday,John Duncan of Leicester City,Chas M Buchan of Arsenal,Donald McKinlay of Liverpool,John H Hill of Burnley,Hunter, Hart of Everton,Fred WM Reed of West Bromwich Albion,WMH Walker of Aston Villa,William Gillespie of Sheffield United,Francis Womack of Birmingham,Clement Stephenson of Huddersfield Town,William Stage of Bury,Fred C Keenor of Cardiff City,Sydney M Bishop, of Leicester City,Hugh Gallacher of Newcastle United,John E Elkes of Tottenham Hotspurs,Robert S Wallace of Nottingham Forest Notts Forest,John Priestley of Chelsea,James McMullan of Manchester City Leonard F Oliver of Fulham,William Birrell of, Middlesbrough,George C Harkus of Southampton,William Ashurst,John Maddock of Port Vale,Michael Gilhooley of Bradford City,Lawrence H Baker of Barnsley,Thomas Greaves of Darlington,William R Wainscoat of Leeds United,Arthur Wood of Clapton Orient,, John J Hardy of Grimsby Town,Joseph Sykes of Swansea Town,Sydney Binks of Blackpool,Robert M Eggo of Reading,Henry Wilson of South Sheilds,Frank Barson of Manchester United,James Martin of Portsmouth,Samuel Wynne of Oldham Athletic,Matthew Bell of Hull

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The Next $2.8M Honus Wagner T206 Card? - Association Football (Soccer) Cigarette Cards

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Association Football (soccer) cigarette cards and trade cards have been under-rated for years. They could be purchased very cheaply from British fairs and auctions. However, rare specimens have recently been fetching record amounts at auctions. A single Rutherfords football card was sold for £6,200, December 2009. This doesn’t sound a lot compared with the $2.8 million Honus Wagner baseball card, but I believe that this and numerous other cases show a clearly upward trend.

I’m not surprised, since association football has gone from a sport played by 19th century Britons to a global phenomenon in just 100 years. Most importantly, the US has started to embrace this world sport alongside their more traditional favourites. It’s only a matter of time before the world starts to value the heritage and origins of this great sport. Cigarette cards and trading cards provide the best pictorial record of the early days and are currently only available in Britain. Snow-balling global demand will inevitably put a strain on supply and push prices ever higher for what will become the new baseball cards. That's why I'm buying quirky and unusual football cards.

Rutherfords, Famous Footballers, 1900

Includes:R.S. McColl, Queens Park Football Club

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WW1 Propaganda War Cartoons Louis Raemaekers Carreras Cigarette Cards 1916

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WW1 Propaganda art can’t get any more gruesome and moving than that painted and etched by the hand of the Dutch artist Louis Raemaeker. Although originally of Germany descent himself, Raemaekers seems to have had an insatiable desire for depicting the Kaiser and German army in the worst light possible. His pictures were so persuasive and damning that the German government offered a reward of 12,000 Dutch Guilders for him, dead or alive.

A set of cigarette cards, issued by Carreras in 1916, showcases many of his spine-chilling war cartoons, revealing vivid scenes of death and destruction on the battlefield. One card depicts a skeleton ironically drinking to the health of civilisation with a glass filled with red blood. Another equally memorable card shows a murdered girl being fed to a herd of pigs wearing German military helmets.

Many of the illustrations on these cards give us a glimpse of the horrors of chemical warfare, such a battle trenches being saturated with liquid fire and poisonous gas from the mouth of an evil serpent. Another card shows a man in a hospital bed struggling to breathe as he suffers from the effects of poison gas. Raemakers also shares the pain and distress caused by sea and land mines, U-boat, submarine and Zeppelin air ship attacks.

Several cigarette cards hint at North America’s disapproval of Germany’s naval attacks on merchant ships and defenceless passenger liners at a time when the US had not officially joined the war. Another card depicting a house of cards shows the precariousness of Germany’s approach to financing the war through loans.

Most people were extremely God fearing when these cards were issued so it is not surprising that many cards demonise Germany by showing pictures of their contempt of the Christian faith. One card depicts the Kaiser cowering down and hiding from a vision of Jesus Christ and another presents an illustration of a demolished statue of Jesus.

Carreras, Raemaekers War Cartoons, 1916 (140 cards)

Includes:Louis Raemaekers, Christendom After Twenty Centuries, We Wage War on Devine Principles, The Harvest is Ripe (The Grim Reaper), Satan's Partners, Luther-Liebknecht In the Reichstag, Von Bethman Hollyweg and Truth, The (Human) Shields of Rosselaere, The Hostages, The Massacre of the Innocents, Seduction, Bernhardi-ism, Unmarsked, Bluebeard's Chamber, A Conflict of Testimony, Spoils for the Victors Belgium, From Liege to Aix-La-Chapelle, Sympathy, Husbands and Fathers, Mon Fils Belgium 1914, A Pitiful Exodus (Antwerp), Our Lady of Antwerp, King Albert's Answer to the Pope, War and Christ, It's Fattening Work, Prosperity Reigns in Flanders, A Fact (Terrorism), A Letter from the German Trenches, My Son Go and Fight For Your Motherland, The Yser, "Liberte! Liberte Cherie!", The Very Stones Cry Out, The Mothers of Belgium, The Widows of Belgium, The Beauties of War, The (War) Prisoners, Gott Stafe England, The Junker, The Envoy of her Majesty, The Self-satisfied Burgher, Oranje Bopven (Cheers for Holland), The Dutch Junkers, The Eagle in the Hen-Run, The Friendly Visitor, Fairsightedness, The Belgian Refugee to his Dutch Brother, Idyllic Neutrality, The New Dutch Oil Line, Fox Tirpitz Preaching to the Geese, It's Unbelievable, Our Candid Friend, Jackals in the Political Field, Van Tromp and de Reuter, The Free Sea, A Political and Economic Rapprochement, Holland to Belgium, One of the Ferrocious Bellicose Party, Better a Living Dog Than a Dead Lion, The Patriots-Down With Militarism, Little Red Riding Hood, The Awakening, The Promise, Christmas Eve, The Wonders of Culture (Zeppelin Airship Attack Victims), The Zeppelin Triumph, The Raid (German Navy), You See How I Manage to Keep The Enemy Out Of My Country, Have Another Piece?, The Latin Sisters, The Broken Alliance and Italy, The Wolf-Trap, Gott Staffe Italien, We'll Give You The Title of Mpret of Poland, War Loan Music, The German Loan, Loan Jugglery, We Don't Understand This Loan Game, The New School Carriculum, The Ex-Convict, The Great Surprise, Confidences, The German Tango, Easter 1915, Lusitania Amok, Murder on the High Seas, The Lusitania Herod's Nightmare, Misunderstood, The Fallaba, Our Resolute President Wilson, The Next to be Kicked Out, German U Boats, The Last Race (German Submarines), Kultur has Passed Here, The Sea Mine, The Land Mine, Barbed Wire, The Gas Fiend (Effects of Poison Gas), Liquid Fire (Flame Throwers), Burning Fire, "Is It You, Mother?", Neuve Chapelle, A German, Alcoholism - Britons Never Shall Be Slaves, The Anniversary August - 1915 (Bernhardi), September - 1915, "Why, I've Killed You Twice and You Dare To Come Back Again", Thrown To the Swine (Murdered Girl Fed To Herd of Pigs), Miss Cavell, The Holy War, The Order of Merit, Serbia Autumn 1915, October in Serbia, Serbia, Ferdinand the Chameleon, Ferdinand Sets Out For The War But is Doubtful As To His Return, Vox Populi Suprema Lex, A Stable Peace, A Second Napoleon, Pan Germanicus as Peace Maker, Peace and Intervention, New Peace Offers, The Marshes of Pinks November 1915, The Higher Politics, To the End, "To Your Health , Civilisation", L'Avenir, Europe - 1916, The Braggart, Gott Mit Uns, "Kreuzland, Kreuzland Uber Alles, Slow Asphyxiation (Effects of Poison Gas), The Trials of a Court Painter, President Wilson and Humanity , The Ancona Protest, Botha to Britain, The Sacrifice, The Wandering Jew, Retribution, I Crush Whatever Resists Me, Mater Dolorosa, Reciprocity,

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1960's Rock Stars, Pop Stars & Ice Cream Vans: The Kinks, Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones Mister Softee Trading Cards

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One particular ice cream franchise, Mister Softee, didn’t just hand out confectionary and ice cream from their vans. They also issued many series of trading cards, especially on rock stars and pop stars of the 1960s and 1970s

The card set pictured above is called “Lord Neilson’s Star Cards” and consists of 12 cards. I believe that the music newspaper “Record Mirror” helped contribute to the descriptions on the backs of the cards, and perhaps the pictures too.

The Kinks are featured on one of the cards. Although perhaps not the most commercially successful of bands from the British Invasion era, they were incredibly important and influential. Dave Davies was the first musician to popularize the power chord in the band’s first commercially successful single, “You Really Got Me”. This played a crucial role in the early development of the hard rock and punk rock genres. Dave Davies achieved his distorted guitar riff with a cone, but not an ice cream cone, by modifying the speaker cone on his Elpico amplifier. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame describes Ray Davies, his brother, as “Rock’s most literate, witty and insightful songwriter”.

This set also includes the Beach Boys, rising to fame with their tight harmonies and Brian Wilson’s knack for creating timeless hit singles. They even rivalled the Beatles at one point.

One important thing to note, is that this is the only Mister Softee card set I know of to feature an all black group, The Supremes. The choice of words in the description on the back isn’t very politically correct.

Alan Price, the organ playing wizard that gave The Animals its distinctive sound makes an appearance on card no. 12 along with the singer Chris Farlowe, who didn’t achieve the success he deserved.

This set also includes music legends such as Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones, Lulu, Manfred Mann, Georgie Fame, The Walker Brothers and a pop group with a name combining the nicknames of all the band members: Dave Dee, Dozy Beaky, Mick and Tich.

Mister Softee, Lord Neilson’s Star Cards (12 Cards), 1967

Includes:The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Tom Jones, The Kinks, Manfred Mann, Julie Felix and Georgie Fame, Lulu, The Rolling Stones, The Walker Brothers, Alan Price and Chris Farlowe; Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich

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Coin Collecting is Sexy - 1890s-1900s Brothel Token Paris Aux Glaces, Rue Stainte Apolline, France

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Who says that coin collecting isn’t sexy?! The token pictured above is a brothel token coin. The obverse side features the name and address of the brothel, Aux Glaces, 25 Rue Stainte Apolline, Paris. The reverse reveals a nude angel and rooster, a design similar to that on French gold coins of the period, perhaps intending to mock the state. Paris was the art centre of the world when this token was issued, late 19th to early 20th century. It’s not too difficult to imagine famous artists wandering into the Les Glaces brothel and using their token to purchase a drink at the bar before joining a Parisian beauty of their choice.

1890s-1900s Brothel Token

Aux Glaces, 25 Rue Stainte Apolline, Paris

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Magic Tricks and Puzzle Cigarette Cards ( Collectables )

During a time when there was no television or computers, and even books were still quite expensive, people had to find other ways to amuse themselves. Not too long ago many people were still superstitious and labelled anything strange and unusual as magic. Tobacco companies identified a gap in the market and realised that the average, information-starved person hungered for knowledge about the strange world around them. From 1870s-1930s, tobacco companies issued cigarette cards in packets of cigarettes on numerous topics. One of those topics was magic tricks and puzzles.

I've listed a small selection of magic trick and puzzle cigarette cards. I've provided scans of a sample card from each set and I've tried to list as many card titles as possible.

Name Of Set: Tricks and Puzzles (Black Back)

Manufacturer: Gallaher

Issue Year: 1933

Card Number: 100

Card Titles: A trick with a clothes brush, The three-square puzzle, Self luminous steam, The three dozen match puzzle, Two Square match puzzle, A coin problem, Making a pack of cards spring from one hand to another, A fancy flourish, To put ale and water in a glass without mixing them, A puzzle with a match,Making a basket, Match box trick, How to make a paper tree, Indestructible match box, Atraction and replusion, Bottle and straw, A good game for two, To change the contents of two glasses without using a third, Subtraction puzzle, How to break glass in any direction, The resin grapes, Onion juice as a sympathetic ink, The cross puzzle,Communication of thought, The nine puzzle, The marked penny, The Garrison Puzzle, The square puzzle, Balancing penny, A simple trick, Park drive match tick, The acrobatic card, Bottle and penny trick, To balance one ball on another, The moat puzzle, On line puzzle, How to make smoke rings with a box, To tie a knot in a hand-kerchief without letting either end go, The Three-coin trick, The 6-square puzzle, To separate oil from water, The four into three square puzzle, To pick up a sixpenny piece from a saucer of water without wetting your fingers, The shot rabbit, To draw a design upon a piece of paper, The match trick, Cigarette paper trick,Joke with a match, The revolving penny, Squeezing the shilling, Removing the Domine, The wine bottle puzzle, How to hear guns of an imaginary fleet firing, Fun with a threepenny bit, How to plung a piece of white paper into an inkpot filled with ink without blackening it...

Name Of Set: Tricks & Puzzles

Manufacturer: Richard Lloyd and Sons

Issue Year: 1935

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: -

Name Of Set: Amusing Tricks and How To Do Them

Manufacturer: Carreras

Issue Year: 1937

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: To Lengthen a Handkerchief, Thread Will Not Burn, Squares and Triangles, The Vanishing Coin, The Wandering Rubber Band, The Spoon Dances, Where's The Coin, Spotting The Card, The Jumping Card, The Wandering Ring, The Sugar Torch, Walk Through Postcard, Restoring Burnt Thread, Name Unseen Colours, Unbreakable Match, Bewitched Walking-Stick, The Magic Matches, The Balancing Coin, The Wandering Pen, Card Magic, Vanishing Threepenny-Bit, Telling Time By Clairvoyance, Find The Coin By Touch, Lift Three Matches With One, The Weeping Pencil, Handkerchief From Match Box, Rescuing a Submerged Coin, Rejoining Torn Paper, Matter Through Matter, A Mathematical Mystery, The Ghostly Gathering, A Flying Egg, Handerchief Holds Water, A Divided Apple, Tinfoil Will Burn, Finding The Chosen Card, Unspillable Match Box, Coin and Needle Trick, To Eat a Candle, Restoring a Broken Bootlace, The Magic Matchbox, The Magic Numbers, A Match Joke, A Writing Trick, The Rope Handcuff, Orange From a Ball of Wool, Four Kings Take a Journey, The Unwinding Trick, A Bluff Card Trick, and The Extra Cigarette.

Name Of Set: Magical Puzzles

Manufacturer: R and J Hill

Issue Year: 1938

Card Number: 50

Card Titles: Magic Water, How to make Smoke Rings, To put Ale and Water in a Glass Without Mixing Them, To Obtain Bell Effect With A Spoon, A Match Joke, Bottle and Straw Trick, How To Join String In Your Mouth, How To Tie a Knot In A Piece of String - Without Letting Go Of The Hands, To Turn Sixpence into One-and-Six, Is It Possible?, How To Float A Needle On Water, How To Make a Penny Stick On The Wall or Door, The Match and Coin, Match Trick, The Vanishing Spots, The Broken Match, The Burnt Thread, Rubber Ball Trick, Egg Trick, The Spirit in the Handkerchief, A Good Catch, To Pass Yourself Through A Playing Card, The Walking Coin, Fire-Resisting Paper, The Magic Match, A Draught-Board Problem, The Moving Bottle, How To Balance a Pencil on your Finger, Try Your Lung Power, The Mesmerized Match, How To Turn a Tumbler of Water Upside Down Without Spilling the Water, Mystic Production of Handkerchief, The Mysterious Ring, Ring and Wand Trick, A Wonderful Thought-Reading Trick, How Many Pins?, Magic Water,The Magic Production of a Coin, Producing Ribbon From a Tangerine, Balancing a Coin on the Hand, How To Reverse the Positions of Two Coins Without Touching Them, Disappearing Sixpence, The Magic Coin, Pulling the Handkerchief Through the Leg, Tell a Card By Magic, The Disappearing Coin, How To Spin A Penny by Friction, How To Balance Fifteen Matches On One, and Telling The Reds From The Blacks By Weight,How is it Done?

Name Of Set: Optical Illusions

Manufacturer: Ogdens

Issue Year: 1923

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: Circles Appearing as Hexagons, Long and Short Lines, Four Crooked Bars, Nine Cubes, Light and Dark Bricks, Cloisters, Pillars in Perspective, Spiral,Object Out of Perspective, The Deceptive Shapes, Book and Tube, Circle and Dot, Changing Arches, Balls and Glasses, Triangles and Star,Length of Lines, Length of Lines, Cog Wheels with Rotary Movement, Ball and Cup, Letters Appearing Out of Upright, Lines Appearing not Parallel,Rotary Movement, Cheese,The Wire Box, and Deceptive Lines.

Name Of Set: Optical illusions

Manufacturer: Godfrey Phillips

Issue Year: 1927

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: The Scotsman, The Black Toucan, The Parallel Lines, Can You Read This? The Cubes, The Birds, The Grey Smudges, The Rabbit, The Disappearing Line, Do These Wheels Revolve? The Elusive Line, Illusion of Distance, The Stairs, The Distorted Oblongs, The Diamond? Contrast, The Spiral, Which is the Longer? The Perfect Square, Hexagons or Cicles? The Two Circles, Illusion of Area, Colour Contrast, The Two Squares, and The Lines.

Name Of Set: Puzzle Series (normal size)

Manufacturer: Major Drapkin

Issue Year: 1926

Card Number: 25

Card Titles: Chelsea Pensioner, The Bandit, The Mountaineer, The Falconer, The Native American, Arab, Remeo and Juliet, Poacher, Snake Charmer, The Mandarin,Dancer, Town Crier, The Trapper, The Sailor, Watchman, The Bowman, The Beefeater, Huntsman, The Highwayman, The Gladiator, Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday, The Monstrel, The Shepherd, Trader, and The Smuggler.

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