A few weeks ago, I found out about an old cigarette card that “pictured” the Indianapolis 500. I headed to eBay, which is the first stop for me, as much as I may despise the site as a seller. The only copy that I found was actually in England, but I went ahead and made the purchase.
The image is of the #23 Louis Schneider car, which won the 1931 Indianapolis 500.
From Beckett.com: “This 50-card series features artist renderings of cars and motorcycles at various racing events in 1931. The cards were produced for Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland’s Ogden cigarettes branch. The cards measure 1 3/8″ X 2 5/8”. The fronts of the cards depict cars or motorcycles in race action. “Ogden’s Cigarettes” and the title and date of the event are on the front of every card. The card backs state at the top “Motor Races 1931” and “A series of 50”. This dating gives the specific year all the racing events featured were run. The latest event featured is October 17, 1931, which in turn leads us to believe that the cards were probably not produced or issued until 1932. The cards backs also feature a brief story on the event featured on that card. The bottom of the card backs state “Issued by Ogden’s.” The series is broken into two groups, automobile races and motorcycle races. Cards 1-33 are the automobile races and cards 34-50 feature the motorcycle races.”
I recently purchased our tickets for this year’s Indianapolis 500, which is the 100th running of the race. As I’m changing what I collect, you’re going to see more vintage Motorsports cards and other items on the blog.
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