1933 Trumpf Chocolate Set

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Trumpf Chocolate
Year	1933
Size	1 13/16″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Black and White
Type	Candy/Gum
Number in Set	Unknown

1933 Trumpf Chocolate Overview

The 1933 Trumpf Chocolate set is a massive issue containing all sorts of subjects. Like many other international sets, this one is broken up into many smaller subsets.

The majority are non-sports related and include things such as actresses, animals, and ships. However, some sports cards are included. The cards are black and white and also printed on thin, glossy stock.

Baseball, Boxing, and Tennis

Notably, the set includes a small subset of boxers. Headlined by Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, and Max Schmeling, a total of six are included in the set. In terms of the four major sports, at least one card is included in the set that features baseball. Finally, tennis player Cilly Aussem is in the set as well.

The front of the baseball card features a black and white image of Japanese players, which seems odd at first considering this was a German issue. The text on the back, however, explains the photo. Translated, it says:

Baseball is the most popular game in America and is able to attract such fantastic attendance that our soccer players turn pale with envy. Some time ago, American and Japanese students have tried to introduce the game also in Germany. The picture shows the Japanese team in this game in Berlin.

It is not confirmed exactly which Japanese team was shown. However, it is possible that it was the national team.

Japan did have a national team at the time and while baseball was not an Olympic sport in 1932, it returned in 1936 for the first time in many years as a demonstration sport. Interestingly enough, Japan was scheduled to participate in an exhibition game against the U.S. in Berlin at the 1936 Olympics but canceled. It is possible that the team was in Berlin in advance of the Olympics to generate some enthusiasm for the sport and their appearance which was to come in 1936.

This was also not the first time Japanese baseball was featured prominently in a German sports card set. The 1932 Sanella and Astra sets included two baseball cards. One featured Babe Ruth and the other featured an unknown Japanese catcher. Possibly even the same catcher shown here since the two sets were produced right around the same time.

1933 Trumpf Chocolate Checklist

A checklist of the complete set is not currently available. However, in addition to the baseball cards, the cards from the boxing subset are identified below: