Toy Soldiers, It's all in the Cards - Cigarette Cards that is

Encompassed within the broad yet still rather esoteric field of militaria, is the sub category of books and ephemera. The books include not just the obvious, critically important reference and identification documents, but such things as regimental/unit histories. Ephemera are such items as commissions, personal correspondence, operational orders, and after-action reports, to name just a few. It also includes, of all things, military subject oriented cigarette cards.

As some may already know, cigarette cards originated in the United States beginning in 1875, with the dual purpose of stiffening the packaging in order to provide protection from bending the cigarettes, and as a form of advertisement for a specific company’s product. The originating company was Allen & Ginter Tobacco Company, and another named Goodwin & Company, soon followed. This novel form of advertising very quickly spread across the Atlantic Ocean to Great Britain. Apparently as addictive as the product they contained, a company in England, by the name of W.D. & H.O. Wills incorporated the idea into their packages in 1887. Those readers who might be interested further in the history and development of the cigarette card in the United States may want to go to the following web site; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_card .

As a hobby in and of itself, the collecting of cigarette cards is known as Cartophily, obviously derived and akin to the hobby of philately, the collection of postage stamps. 

However, the principle intention of this article is to explore a parallel development in the United Kingdom, specifically all the card series which focused on a military theme. One of the first companies in the UK was W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1887 (or 1888), followed by John Player & Sons in 1893, and Thomas Ogden in 1894  It was in 1895 that the Wills company introduced a set titled Ships & Soldiers. Some of the earliest cards were printed on silk, then backed with paper. This practice was discontinued during World War II, apparently to save paper, and never reintroduced thereafter.  Production ceased with all companies during both World War I and II, with the government citing shortage of materials, as well as being a potential open source of intelligence to the enemy.

In addition to the ‘American Card Catalog’ (ACC) there is The World Tobacco Index (WTI) published by the Cartophilic Society of Great Britain (CSGB), using an alphanumeric index system based on manufacturer’s names. This will give the reader some indication as to how serious collectors are about their hobby in and of itself. As is the case with stamps, rarity, set completeness, and condition enter into their evaluation.

While Wills and other British tobacco companies published cards with military subjects, it was John Player & Sons that soon emerged with card sets which incorporated the most accurate research, colours, diversity of subjects, format, and quality of printing.

As Player continued to refine the research, diversity of military and naval subjects, and quality, of their cards, they rapidly gained the respect and desirability with collectors of militaria. It naturally follows they also gained a significance portion, if not the preponderance of the market, both for their cards, as well as their cigarettes.

There are a range of methods in which to display a set of cards. The company even published small blank collectors albums for each set, as well as an adhesive (to be moistened) on the back of each card. As the description of each card was printed on its back, a duplicate was printed on each page, adjacent to the space designated for the cards, in order that the information was not lost. Another popular means of display are specifically compartmented clear plastic three-ring binder page which shows both the front and back. A variant on clear plastic pages is a small clear acrylic storage box, sized precisely to accommodate up to one hundred cards. Still another method is matting in a frame with spaces dimensioned for each card in a set, with a pane of glass on both front and back. Obviously this is a quite expensive investment, given the current price of framing, and thus limited to a particularly unique, valuable, and attractive set of cards.

The following images show such a display format for a set of Wills cigarette cards depicting the ranks and uniforms of the Royal Navy from the turn of the Twentieth century in the author's private collection. The set published in 1909, is No. 50 titled Naval Dress and Badges. Author's apologies for the glare of the camera flash, it's slightly better, but segmented in the last two images. 

Some of the sets of cards have become reference standards for collectors, becoming a convenient source for the detailed correct colours, uniforms, badges, accoutrements, and armament for regiments of the British Army, Territorial Army, and units of the contemporary British Commonwealth. They provided the same range of accurate information for the ships and uniforms of the Royal Navy, aircraft and uniforms of the Royal Air Force, and historical uniforms as well. For those readers who may want to specifically determine the range of military oriented sets, as well as others, and a fairly recent evaluation (2003) of their value, please refer to; http://www.cigarettecards.co.uk/valueplayers.htm 

The following image depicts a complete set of John Player & Sons cards containing  all of the attributes discussed in the previous paragraph, are consequently very popular and sought after by collectors of toy soldiers and military miniatures. This set published in 1939 is No.50 titled Uniforms of the Territorial Army. Another set that is very popular shows an equal range of soldiers of the then contemporary British Commonwealth of nations.

Unfortunately following World War II, due to the combination of rationing and high cost of raw materials, cigarette cards never returned. Consequently much like the case of W. Britains Ltd. toy soldiers two decades later, becoming instant antiques, with a few exceptions. Black Cat and Carreras Cigarettes are known to have been producing cards into the 1970s (Wills until 1965).