When most think of the “T” tobacco cards, they think baseball. I can understand why, but I’m learning there’s a whole big world of other tobacco cards out there. My interest doesn’t lie in baseball at all, but instead in football and racing. The racing is a newer thing over the last month or so, but there are plenty of vintage racing sets out there to take on as long-term projects.
Once finding out about the T36 cards, this was one of the two that I immediately keyed on as ones to pick up.
In 1915, De Palma won the Indianapolis 500. As a fan of IndyCar and becoming much more interested in Indianapolis 500 history, this one was a no-brainer pickup. Like other tobacco cards of the time, the card has multiple backs. This one only has two, the other being a Mecca back. I plan to pick that one up in time but wanted this one first. I am not the biggest on the history behind cards, but I did find something interesting when researching the card.
Over time I will find out of the Hassan backs are tougher to come by than the Mecca backs, or both kinds were only packaged for four days. For now, I figured that I would just go ahead, use the information found and pick up the card.
From Beckett.com: “This 25-card set was produced for The American Tobacco Company. Each card includes a small ad for either Hassan or Mecca Cigarettes on the cardback. All 25 cards were produced with both ad back variations. The cards measure 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 and came with square corners. The cards are unnumbered and feature top race car drivers of the day from both North America and Europe representing all types of auto racing events. They were packaged one card per 10 cigarette pack and two per 20 cigarette pack. The cards were inserted in cigarette packs starting on March 27th, 1911 and ending on March 31st, 1911.”
My excitement for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 is becoming greater by the day, so expect more posts and pickups about IndyCar items.
Thank you for reading the blog. If you have any interest in contributing, just let me know. If you like what we’re doing and want updates when we post new pieces, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please take the time and also look through some other pieces on the site. I’m still looking for more folks that would like to contribute, so let me know if you are! You can follow me on my other Twitter handles at @kin_kinsley and @DFW_Card_Shows.
4 comments