1934 & 1935 Gallaher Champions Set and Checklist

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Gallaher Champions
Year	1934 and 1935
Size	1 7/16″ x 2 1/2″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	48 each year (96 total)

1934 & 1935 Gallaher Champions Set Overview

Gallaher, a UK tobacco company, produced two sets of cards in 1934 and 1935 featuring various athletes. Numerous sports are included in the set, including boxing, golf, and tennis, among others.

The cards were surely popular. They were slightly larger than standard cigarette cards, for one thing. The cards have a unique look with full color images on the front and semi-thick white borders. A March 1934 edition of Cigarette Card News, an early collector publication, said the cards were ‘bound to have widespread appeal’ and, to the author, was ‘the best of any series of the type for some years past.’

A variation is found in the two sets. On some cards, the athlete’s name is in the background of the picture. On others, the name is not printed on the front. There does not seem to be much of a premium for either.

Backs are printed entirely in red ink, similar to the Red Sun Tobacco baseball and boxing cards produced here in the U.S. The design is even somewhat close to those cards with a sun-like image behind the ‘Champions’ printed at the top of the cards. Backs continue with a biography of the athlete and the Gallaher name is printed at the bottom, as is the Park Drive Cigarettes label. The cards were distributed with that cigarette brand.

In addition to the human athletes, some champion greyhounds and horses are also featured, though those typically have less appeal to collectors.

Some of the keys to this set include tennis players Fred Perry and Helen Wills-Moody, boxers Primo Carnera and Len Harvey, and famous cricketer Donald Bradman.

The first 48 cards were printed in 1934 with a second 48-card set being issued in 1935. While they are two separate sets, they are often thought of as one large release because the design is the same in each one.