Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Edwards Ringer & Bigg Cinema Stars
Year	1923
Size	Varies
Images	Sepia
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	25 (large size) and 50 (small size)

1923 Edwards Ringer & Bigg Cinema Stars Set Overview

These cards were distributed by Edwards Ringer & Bigg, a British tobacco company under the Imperial Tobacco firm. They created these cards for use in their tobacco products.

The set featured movie stars and is mostly a non-sports set. The lone card of most interest to sports collectors is one featuring Hall of Fame boxing great Georges Carpentier. The boxer is here because he appeared in several films and was an actor as well.

There are actually two different but associated sets here. One is a larger 50-card set that is ironically smaller in size resembling a more typical tobacco card. The other is a smaller 25-card set that is larger and shaped more like a square.

This was not a new trick. Several 1920s and 1930s tobacco card sets produced internationally had both a larger set and a smaller one with a modified checklist.

The sets used the same pictures, although the 25-card set obviously didn’t include everyone from the 50-card issue. Fortunately for boxing fans, Carpentier is in both sets. In the 50-card set, he is No. 43 and in the 25-card issue, No. 7. Fronts pictured the subject and the backs implored collectors to smoke one of Edwards, Ringer, and Bigg’s cigarettes, Exmoor Hunt, Red Bloom, and Klondyke.

1923 Edwards Ringer & Bigg Cinema Stars Set Checklist

Carpentier’s card is the only sports issue in either set.

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