1934 & 1935 Gallaher Champions Set and Checklist

‘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

Densmore Shute 1934 Gallaher Champions GolfCrawford Tennis 1934 Gallaher ChampionsGallaher, 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.

1934 & 1935 Gallaher Champions Set Checklist

1934 Set

  1. Michael Scott (golf)
  2. H.W. Austin (tennis)
  3. Alex James
  4. D.O. Finlay
  5. Fred Perry (tennis)
  6. Stanley Woods
  7. Helen Wills-Moody (tennis)
  8. Kellsboro Jack
  9. Hyperion
  10. T.W. Green
  11. D.R. Jardine
  12. F.W. Southall
  13. I.S. Smith
  14. R. Wyman
  15. R. Pearce
  16. Tiger Stevenson
  17. J. McKinlay
  18. The Saw
  19. Genial Nobleman
  20. Queen of the Suir
  21. Jack Petersen (boxing)
  22. L.C. Bowkett
  23. Velsheda
  24. Seminole
  25. J. Crawford (boxing)
  26. W.R. Dean
  27. J.A. Mollison
  28. Gordon Richards
  29. W.R. Hammond
  30. Densmore Shute (golf)
  31. Enid Wilson (golf)
  32. Sir Malcolm Campbell
  33. G.T. Saunders
  34. A.L. Novis
  35. Harold Larwood
  36. Mrs. Mollison
  37. D.E. Woods
  38. G.H. Stainforth
  39. H. Verity
  40. Primo Carnera (boxing)
  41. Frank Varey
  42. Future Cutlet
  43. The Scapegoat
  44. Sidney Lee
  45. W. Lindrum
  46. Megan Taylor
  47. Joyce Cooper
  48. T.G. Askwith

1935 Set

  1. L.F. Townsend
  2. A. H. G. Pope
  3. L. E. G. Ames
  4. James Langridge
  5. Pat Hughes (tennis)
  6. Len Harvey (boxing)
  7. W.E. Bowes
  8. Eric Phelps
  9. Colombo
  10. F.R. Brown
  11. G.O. Allen
  12. H. Scott-Paine
  13. M. Nichol
  14. Earl Howe
  15. Dorothy Round (tennis)
  16. E.C. Clark
  17. C. J. P. Dodson
  18. P. Desjardins
  19. J.E. Lovelock
  20. C.F. Walters
  21. Chatelaine
  22. M. Heeley (tennis)
  23. R. E. S. Wyatt
  24. Peggy Scriven (tennis)
  25. G. E. T. Eyston
  26. S.J. McCabe
  27. Steve Donoghue
  28. D. Maskell (tennis)
  29. T. Hampson
  30. Lord Burghley
  31. Harry Mizler (boxing)
  32. W.L. Handley
  33. P. Alliss (golf)
  34. C.W. Horn
  35. H. G. N. Lee (tennis)
  36. Sam Ferris
  37. M. Gleitze
  38. Larry Gains (boxing)
  39. M. Leyland
  40. T. Frame-Thomson
  41. R. W. G. Holdsworth
  42. Don Bradman
  43. W.L. Hoppe
  44. H. Sutcliffe
  45. C.V. Grimmett
  46. J. Davis
  47. C. J. H. Tolley (golf)
  48. W.M. Woodfull

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