The first cigarette cards were issued in 1879. The idea of inserting a card into a cigarette package quickly caught on, and there were thousands of sets issued around the world from the 1880's through the 1930's. These cards pictured just about every conceivable subject, from sporting figures to politicians to many non-human subjects such as animals, flags, and world scenes.
By the 1920's, American tobacco companies had stopped issuing cigarette cards. Candy and gum products were considered more suitable since the cards were targeting children. Cards were also being used in weighing and exhibit machines.
However, cigarette cards remained very popular in Europe through the 1930's. Movie stars were a very popular subject, and the European cigarette card sets included stars from Hollywood because of the popularity of American films. A surprisingly large number of these old cigarette cards survive in nice condition. This is probably due to the large number of collectors who pursued these beautiful cards when they were issued because card collecting in Europe became an organized hobby long before card collecting gained popularity in the United States.
World War II stopped the production of cigarette cards cold, as they were deemed a non-essential item and a waste of valuable paper. They never really started up again after the war, although there were a few sets issued here and there.
This collection consists of 1930's German cigarette cards of famous Hollywood movie stars, many of which are embossed and have beautiful and unique borders. As expected, German born Marlene Dietrich was represented many times in all the German sets. Shirley Temple cards were very popular, and remain so today. Also notice that Rita Hayworth was still using her real name of Rita Cansino.
I like to collect movie star sets from other countries that are unusual and hard to find as well.
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1 Joan Bennett 1934 Garbaty Schonheitsgalerie SGC 92
2 Joan Bennett 1934 Garbaty Schonheitsgalerie SGC 60
3 Joan Bennett 1936 Aurelia Sultan Filmsterne SGC 86
4 Constance Bennett 1936 Garbaty Schoner Frauen SGC 88
