1935 Carreras Popular Personalities Set and Checklist

Posted on September 29, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Carreras Popular Personalities
Year	1935
Size	1 3/16″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	72

1935 Carreras Popular Personalities Overview

1935 Carreras Popular Personalities Soccer This interesting issue featured both non-sports and sports personalities. Distributed for Carreras Cigarettes, the set included a total of 72 cards.

Most notably is the cards’ shape. Instead of a rectangular card, these were narrow oval cards. While many of the subjects were non-sports personalities, a good number of sports cards were included, too, as the release featured athletes from boxing, soccer, golf, and tennis, among others. Fronts of the cards have muted color images of subjects with the backs including the Popular Personalities title, Carreras name, and a biography along with a card number.

Among the non-sports personalities are members of the Royal Family. Key sports cards included are tennis greats Fred Perry and Dorothy Round, golf star Henry Cotton, and boxer Len Harvey. Others that are somewhat popular are cricket stars Jack Hobbs and Donald Bradman. Cards of Bradman and soccer star Stanley Matthews are typically the most popular ones featuring athletes in the set.

However, the top card in the set is the one belonging to a young then Princess Elizabeth before she would become Queen. Elizabeth’s card is particularly notable as it is viewed as a first card of her (along with a few others from 1935) and a ‘rookie’ of sorts. Her card’s value increased with her death. Today, modest copies start in the $30-$50 range.

Most cards include a replica signature however, some have the subjects name typed and printed inside of a small box instead. Both types are shown here.

Like other international cigarette issues, a special album was available for these cards. The cards were actually designed to be inserted into that album as the back has a ‘gummed surface’, as mentioned on the backs of the cards. It is somewhat common to see complete sets offered with the cards pasted into the albums.