1939 Player’s Cycling Set and Checklist

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Player’s Cycling
Year	1939
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	50

1939 Player’s Cycling Set Overview

This is one of the few sets dedicated entirely to cycling.

Issued in 1939, it came right at the end of the pre-war era. The series was issued by Player’s Cigarettes, which issued countless tobacco card sets in the 1930s. The cards were apparently in conjunction with the Editor of “Cycling”, which is mentioned on the backs.

The set is a hodgepodge of sorts of all things cycling. Many cards feature pictures of various bicycles. Others feature types of races. Others, still, focus on the actual cyclists themselves. Others, like Card No. 50, which features Bicycle Polo, depict assorted activities surrounding cycling. Others still depict bicycles from the 19th century. F.T. Bidlane is one of the notable cyclists mentioned.

Card fronts feature color images with a title printed at the bottom. Like most 1930s international tobacco card sets, these cards have white borders. The backs include the Cycling title, the Player’s Cigarettes name, and a description of the subject featured on the front.

Like many international tobacco issues, Player’s issued a specific album for these cards. Made of paper, these albums usually cost only a penny and pages included spaces for the cards along with a description (since the description of the back was covered up by the page).