1924 F&J Smith’s Prominent Rugby Players Set and Checklist

Posted on September 27, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	F&J Smith’s Prominent Rugby Players
Year	1924
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	25

1924 F&J Smith’s Prominent Rugby Players Set Overview

This is one of the many tobacco card issues produced by Imperial Tobacco in the 1920s and 1930s for their cigarette brands. This, however, is one of the rarer rugby issues.

This set includes a total of 25 rugby cards. The cards have full color images of players in a variety of poses. The fronts have white borders, the player’s name, and the F&J Smith’s Cigarettes name. Like many other international sets, only the player’s first and middle initials are provided in most instances.

Backs include the ‘Prominent Rugby Players’ headline at the top and mention there are a total of 25 cards in the set. The majority of the space on the back is used for a biography of the player. The bottom includes the F&J Smith cigarette brand name and mentions the cards were issued by the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland, Ltd.

Like many international sports issues out of the UK, these cards are often found in very good condition as collectors often took care of their cards are stored these in albums. However, as stated, this is a much rarer set than other rugby issues of the same time period.

The cards are a standard tobacco size, similar to other international issues, measuring just less than 1 1/2″ wide and a little larger than 2 1/2″ tall.