1936 Pet Cremer Olympia Set

‘It’s In The Details’
Title | Pet Cremer Olympia |
Year | 1936 |
Size | 2 1/2″ x 3 1/4″ |
Images | Black and White |
Type | Miscellaneous |
Number in Set |
144 |
1936 Pet Cremer Olympia Overview
The 1936 Pet Cremer set was one of several German issues that covered the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin. As was the case with others, it was a multi-sport set that covered games from the Olympics. Because the event was held in Germany, the sets have a decided German focus on that country’s teams and athletes.
Numerous sports were profiled in the set, but the major American sports included were baseball, basketball, and hockey. Track and field dominates the set with roughly 1/4 of the set focused on those events.
Hockey, by far, had the most representation of those sports. There were six hockey cards included compared to only one basketball and one baseball. In addition, while the U.S. was a big part of those Olympic games, they are only represented once among those eight cards as the basketball card features a game between the U.S. and Canada. The basketball card features Team USA’s star player, Joe Fortenberry reaching for the ball. Here’s a closer look at the few 1936 Olympic cards featuring basketball. Boxing and wrestling are also covered.
Americans are covered in other sports throughout the set, including track and field star Jesse Owens, who was included on a total of three cards. Owens’ cards, particularly the one showing him as an individual as opposed to a group picture, are often regarded as the most valuable ones. However the baseball and boxing cards have risen in value and can be priced highly by sellers understanding their rarity.
Still, the importance of Owens’ card cannot be understated and today, they are heralded as near rookie cards. Pet Cremer certainly understood their importance with two of the three No. 2 and No. 3 in the set’s checklist.
A final sought after card is that of Olympic champion skater Sonja Henie.
One note is that these cards are commonly referred to as tobacco cards but that is not correct. Pet Cremer actually produced cleaning/soap and laundry products. Thus, these are best fit under the Miscellaneous Card header in the American Card Catalog.
The sports are mostly grouped together by sport. Here is a general breakdown of the set by card number:
- 1-35: Track and Field
- 36-43: Boxing/Wrestling/Weightlifting
- 44-53: Gymnastics
- 54-56: Fencing
- 57-59: Pistol Shooting
- 60-62: Cycling
- 63-71: Polo/Equestrian Sport
- 72-75: Soccer/Rugby
- 76: Basketball
- 77-81: Handball/Field Hockey
- 82-97: Swimming/Diving/Water Polo
- 98-111: Rowing/Boating
- 112: Baseball
- 113-126: Skiing/Miscellaneous
- 127-130: Bobsled
- 131-144: Ice Skating/Hockey/Miscellaneous
Baseball
The baseball card is an interesting one. It features Japanese players who scheduled to play a demonstration game against the United States. The sport was not a fully recognized one at the games but Japan was to play against the Americans in an exhibition. However, they ended up not appearing. Japan did help bring the sport to Germany, however, showing up in the country prior to the Olympics.
The baseball card is a redux of sorts of one found in the 1932 Sanella set. That set was also a German release and included a card featuring an unknown Japanese catcher. As I covered here, the player shown on that card likely features Japanese Hall of Famer Jiro Kuji. This card features two Japanese catchers, both also unknown.
The catcher seen standing is wearing the same type of shin guards as found on the one from the Sanella set. That player could also be Kuji but no definitive link is known. The other catcher waiting for a pitch could be Nobuo Kura, who was a featured Japanese catcher on some of the team’s international efforts. Again, however, nothing is definitive.
1936 Pet Cremer Olympia Checklist
Below is a checklist of the cards.
- Die Deutschen siehen ins Olympische Dorf ein (German Olympic Team)
- 100m race with Jesse Owens
- Jesse Owens in the 200m
- Williams vs. Brown in the 400m
- 800m race with John Woodruff
- Lovelock, Cunningham, and Beccali
- Lehtinen vs. Murakoso
- Glen Hardin in 400m race
- Murakoso vs. Iso-Hollo in 10,000m race
- Towns in 100m hurdles
- Tuominen and Iso-Hollo in 3,000 race
- 4x100m Team USA with Jesse Owens, Metcalfe, Draper, Wykoff
- 4x100m Team England
- 4x400m Team Germany
- Kitei Son in marathon
- Long
- Cornelius Johnson
- Whitlock 50km
- Tajima
- Meadows and Nishiba
- Barlund, Woellke, and Stock
- Carpenter
- Jaervinen and Stock
- Hein
- Morris
- Helen Stephens in 100m
- Women’s 80m hurdles
- Fleischer, Kruger, and Kwasniewska
- Albus, Kraus, Dollinger, Dorffeldt
- Women’s 4×100 race
- Mauermaner, Weiss, and Mollenhauer
- Csak, Kaun, and Odam
- Oberleutnant Handrik
- Ubba, Handrick, Leonhard
- Leutnant Lemp
- German wrestlers
- Wagner, El Touni, and Ismayr
- Bsenicka, Manger, and Luhaaar
- Schafer
- Wrestling mats/matches
- Kaiser
- Runge
- Virtanen and Tozzi
- Dietrich, Edart, and Buhne
- German women’s gymnastics team
- German men’s gymnastics team
- Alfred Schwarzmann
- Eugen Mack
- Mack, Schwarzmann, and Frey
- Hudec
- Belle
- Volz
- Erna Burger
- Gardere, Gaudini, and Bocchino
- German fencing team
- Mayer, Preiss, and Schacherer
- Jamonnieres, Ullman, and Krempel
- Hax, Van Oyen, and Ullman
- Van Oyen
- Merkens, Karsch, Ihbe, and Lorenz
- Charpentier
- Merkens
- Polo – Argentina vs. England
- German polo players
- Argentina polo players
- Bollay, Gerhard, and Oppeln-Bronikowski
- Oberleutenant Bollay
- von Mangenheim
- Hauptmann Stubbendor
- Rittmeister Lippert
- Oberleutnant Hasse
- Men’s Italian soccer team
- Men’s Austrian soccer team
- Germany vs. Luxemborg soccer
- Italy vs. Austria soccer
- Team USA basketball vs. Canada (Joe Fortenberry)
- Dyan Chand
- Germany vs. Austria handball
- India vs Germany field hockey
- India field hockey team
- Germany handball team
- Csik
- Terada and Medica
- Kiefer
- Sietas and Hamuro
- Japanese Swimmers – Yusa, Sugiura, Taguchi, and Urai
- German water polo team
- Stork, Root, and Wayne
- Female divers
- Marshall Wayne
- Jentsch-Jordan and Gestring
- Maehata and Genenger
- Women’s swimming 100m race
- Holland 4×100 women’s swim team
- Dina Senff
- German 4×100 women’s swim team
- Ria Mastenbroek
- Gustav Schafer
- Kaidel and Pirsch
- Edstein, Rom, Karl, and Menne
- Eichhorn and Strauss
- Gustmann, Arend, and Adamski
- Maier, Bolle, Gaber, Gollner, and Bauer
- Der Endkampf im Achter (Rowing)
- Ernst Krebs
- Horn and Harnisch
- Wevers and Landen
- Hradezky, Eberhard, and Hormann
- Olympic sailing
- Bischo, Kagchelland, and Weisse
- Die 6-m klasse auf fahrt (sailing)
- Japanese baseball players
- Galutschiessen zur Eroffnungsfeier (Cannons in snow mountains)
- Christl Cranz
- Birger Ruud
- Lantischner and Psnur
- Larsson
- Hagen
- Blid von der fleinen Olympiaschanze (skiing)
- Gustav Adolf
- Bergstrom, Wikstrom, Larsson, Biklund, Englund
- Die Deutsche Patrouille (German patrol / skiers)
- Italian skiers
- 4×10 km race (skiing)
- Jalkanen
- Willi Bogner
- Die Eismaurer bei der arbeit (skiing)
- TBD
- Hohe Gafte (men in coats)
- Team USA bobsled
- Sonja Henie
- Women’s figure skaters
- Herber and Baier
- Cecillia Colledge
- Schafer and Inada
- Canadian ice hockey team
- Canada vs. Hungary (ice hockey)
- Japanese hockey player in game against England
- Harter Kampf ums Tor (hockey game)
- Rudolf Hess
- England hockey team
- German hockey team
- Colonel Udet flying over Rissersee
- Die träger von fünf olympischen medaillen (Norwegian olympians with five medals)
Follow Pre-War Cards on Twitter and also be sure to like our page on Facebook.