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Cigarette cards are trade cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. Beginning in 1875, cards depicting actresses, baseball players, Indian chiefs, and boxers were issued by the Allen and Ginter tobacco company. These are considered to be some of the first cigarette cards.[1] Other tobacco companies such as Goodwin & Co. soon followed suit. Some very early cigarette cards were printed on silk which was then attached to a paper backing. Each set of cards typically consisted of 25 or 50 related subjects, for example famous football or Canadian ice hockey players, Boy Scouts or British butterflies. They were discontinued in order to save paper during World War II, and never fully reintroduced thereafter. Today, sports historians study these cards for details on uniform design.[2] One notable cigarette card is the example of Honus Wagner from the American Tobacco Company's T206 set. Sometimes referred to as "the Holy Grail", one such example sold for over $2 million.
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