1930 Mitchell Old Sporting Prints Set and Checklist

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘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 Match This 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 Card 1924 Churchman Old Sporting Prints Coursing Card While 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.