1907 Mitchell’s Sports Set and Checklist

Posted on November 9, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Mitchell’s Sports
Year	1907
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	25

1907 Mitchell’s Sports Overview

1907 Mitchell Sport Golf 1907 Mitchell Sport Tennis This rare set was by Stephen Mitchell and Son Company, one of many tobacco firms that was a branch of the Imperial Tobacco conglomerate. Cards were distributed in packages of Mitchell’s Cigarettes in 1907.

The series is simply named ‘Sports’ and includes a variety of generic athletes depicted playing numerous sports. Among those featured are tennis, boxing, golf, and wrestling. Most sports are pictured only a single time but cricket is featured on two cards (cricket and bowling) and there are also a handful of track and field related cards.

Unlike many other UK tobacco card issues that were issued later, this set is quite rare and highly desired. Commons can sell for $10-$20 with the key sports cards being significantly more.

Cards feature colorful pictures on the front, along with the name of the sport and the Mitchell’s Cigarettes name, and a unique back advertisement using a chocolate brown ink, imploring collectors to smoke “Prize Crop Cigarettes.” The card backs also state there are a total of 25 cards in the set, though it does not identify them or offer card numbers.

Like other early multi-sport sets, there are several here that are often of little importance to American sports collectors, such as a few hunting cards.