1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Set and Checklist

‘It’s In The Details’

Title Mitchell Old Sporting Prints
Year 1930
Size 1 1/2″ x 2 3/8″
Images Color
Type Tobacco
Number in Set
25

1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Overview

1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Tom Cribb and Tom Molineaux Boxing MatchThis rare set isn’t your typical UK sports card set. While many UK sets from the 1930s are quite plentiful, this one is a bit rarer. Additionally, it stands out because of the events featured.

The multi-sport set actually depends older events that had happened. So while the cards were issued in 1930 by Stephen Mitchell and Son, a tobacco brand under the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland label, several of the events shown are actually from the 1800s.

The set has a lot of cards that some collectors would barely consider sports. In particular, several cards depict things such as boating, cock fighting, hunting, and fishing. But there are a few key sports cards here. One features J. Goodman, an early distance runner and a couple of cricket cards are also found.

But the two keys to the set are cards that depict an early 1800s boxing match. The match is one of the most highly-touted ones in the early history of the sport, featuring English champion Tom Cribb and a skilled black fighter that was a former slave in the U.S. before earning his freedom, Tom Molineaux. Cribb defeated Molineaux in two different fights and the two cards relive that second bout.

Here’s more on the iconic boxing cards in the set.

Similar to Another Set

1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Coursing Card1924 Churchman Old Sporting Prints Coursing CardWhile the set is unique it seems to somewhat mirror another similar issue — the 1924 Player and Sons Old Sporting Prints set.

The sets are not identical by any means. But they do feature some of the same type of sports and, in some cases, even very similar pictures.

For example, take the coursing cards shown here. The two cards are obviously different, but only slightly. Both Player and Sons and Mitchell were Imperial Tobacco brands. So it is possible that the idea to create a similar set for Mitchell sprung from the earlier Churchman set that was issued.

1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Checklist

  1. Boating. A Funny.
  2. Boating. Pair Oar’d Outrigger.
  3. The Brighton Day Mails
  4. The Edinburgh Express
  5. Westminster Cock Pit in 1830
  6. Coursing. Going Out.
  7. Coursing. The Death.
  8. The Cut
  9. A Match at Hambledon
  10. Bottom Fishing
  11. Fly Fishing
  12. The Fatal Stoop
  13. Loss of the Chaplain
  14. The Rendezvous of the Smoking Hunt
  15. The Battle Between Cribb and Molineaux (Boxing)
  16. The Close of the Battle (Boxing)
  17. Epsom. The Grand Stand.
  18. The Race for the Emperor’s Cup
  19. J. Goodman
  20. Red Deer Shooting
  21. Snipe Shooting
  22. Wild Duck Shooting
  23. A Steeple Chase, 1
  24. A Steeple Chase, 2
  25. The Grand National

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