1900s Ogden’s Tabs General Interest 1-120 Set and Checklist

Posted on December 1, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Ogden Tab Cigarettes General Interest
Year	1900s
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/8″
Images	Black and White
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	120

1900s Ogden Tab Cigarettes General Interest 1-120 Overview

Ogden Tab Cigarettes distributed a General Interest set consisting of 1,560 cards spread out over six series (A, B, C, D, E, and F). But in addition to that set, they also created a separate General Interest set with only 120 cards that doesn’t carry any of the Series A-F labels.

The cards aren’t as sturdy as other tobacco issues. They aren’t paper thin but a little thinner than other tobacco cards and have a light semi-gloss. While the set includes a large number of non-sports subjects, it has a good number of sports cards, too, from various sports, including hockey and more.

Backs of the cards indicate there are 120 cards in this set.

While most measure around 1 1/2″ wide by 1 3/8″ tall, some are slightly larger. Typically, those measure a little wider, if anything. That isn’t too uncommon as many pre-war sets have similar types of variances in size.

I have not seen conclusive dating for this set. However, similar Ogden’s Tabs General Interest cards were issued from around 1900-1902 and these cards are likely to have a similar timeframe.

Hockey

Ogden Tabs Hockey

An Ogden’s Tabs General Interest hockey card is of interest to many as it is one of the earliest cards from that sport. This card should be considered one of the keys to the set.

The known hockey card has a black and white image features several unnamed players on the ice. The back of the card states that it is an ice hockey game at Plattsburg, New York, but no further details are given.

It is sometimes cited as Card No. 72 in the Series E set as PSA has slabbed this card as such. However, the card is actually part of this 120-card Ogden’s General Interest set and not the Series E cards as PSA has indicated. My hunch is that they have graded it as part of Series E because that also has 120 cards in it. But this card is in this General Interest set, not the Series A-F set.

Other General Interest Sets

Finally, collectors should know that at least two other Ogden Tab General Interest sets also exist. The cards have an almost identical look to these.

First, there are the aforementioned cards that all have Series A through Series F on the backs. Other cards from another set state they are part of a general interest set but do not have any numbering on them and the backs do not state how many might be in a potential set.