PastImperfect: motoring cigarette cardsCar brochures and catalogues are a popular item for collectors and command high prices. Less sought after, but equally worth seeking, are the small number of motoring subjects covered by cigarette cards, writes Bob Montgomery.
Cigarette cards were given away free with cigarettes, and their heyday was the 1920s and 1930s when they were collected by millions. There are about 20 different sets - usually of 50 cards - which have a motoring theme, and today with their period artwork they form a window on a long-gone world.
From an Irish collector's point-of-view, the most sought-after collection is the Album of Motor Cars issued by John Player & Sons, Dublin. This set of 50 cards had an album in which they could be kept and was printed specifically for the Irish market. The selection of cars portrayed is different to those in the set issued in Britain, reflecting the cars then available on the Irish market.
The Album is illustrated with drawings of Irish beauty spots, but also the likes of "Shannon Power House, Ardnacrusha".
In addition, the text on the back of each card is reproduced in the album beside the space for the card. Thus we learn that at that time Terraplane, Mercedes, Hudson, Armstrong-Siddeley and Adler were among the makes being assembled in Dublin.
This is the only motoring series I know of which is tailored to an Irish audience, but several others are particularly interesting for the light they shed on attitudes to motoring in this period. Other collections were devoted to motor car radiators, safety or even index marks.
How Motor Cars Work; Hints and Tips for Motorists; and How it is Made - the list seems endless, but among the most interesting is a 1934 Wills series of 50 cards titled "Safety First". This series gives a real insight into motoring over 70 years ago.
The series begins with a card entitled "Drive as you would wish others to drive", which tells us not to overtake on bends, to park on a steep hill with wheels turned against the kerb and how to correct a skid.
The dangers of trams "swinging out on corners" is warned against, and the motorist is urged not to "hinder a constable on point duty by asking directions" while one should always "beware of amateur traffic controllers".
Looking through these albums today, there's a feeling of having opened a time-capsule into another age. For those who might wish to collect them, they are still relatively inexpensive and surprisingly plentiful, but do avoid imitation re-prints being passed-off as original cards.