Cigarette cards are collectible cards that were inserted in cigarette packs by tobacco manufacturers. Their origin dates back to 1870, when they served to reinforce the packages that were too soft to preserve their contents intact. Initially they were white or at most had the logo of the brand, until an American entrepreneur had the idea of printing advertisements on them. Soon, the tobacco companies began to put on the cards the images of kings and queens, actresses and baseball players, Indian chiefs, boxers, national flags or wild animals. The cigarette cards documented the popular culture of the time, showing the costumes, sports and personalities of the era. Between 1875 and 1940, thousands of different series were produced by over 300 tobacco companies, which competed with each other to sell their products and create brand loyalty. The series were usually composed of 25 or 50 related subjects, but there are also some of over 100. The most popular themes were “beauties” (famous actresses, movie stars and models), sportsmen (in the United States especially baseball, in the rest of the world especially soccer and cricket), nature, heroes and military uniforms, heraldry, locomotives and city views.
The boom of cigarette cards occurred in Germany but especially in Great Britain in the thirties, when hundreds of series were produced on various topics and became so popular that associations of collectors and albums to preserve them were created..
WHY DO I SOMETIMES NOT SEE THE COMPLETE SERIES?
CONTACT Hi, I'm the creator of this site and thank you for your visit. I ask you to be patient if you don't always find the complete series. This is my hobby, but not my job. I have other busy schedules that take up a lot of my time and sometimes I can't post scans every day. However, I assure you that the site is always constantly updated and I advise you to come back often to see the progress made. I hope you like my work and appreciate it. Also, if you go to the contact section, don't hesitate to write to me if you are interested in any particular series or card that is not yet in the archive. I will try to accommodate you.
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