1914 Lambert & Butler Winter Sports Set

Posted on December 2, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Lambert and Butler Winter Sports
Year	1914
Size	1 3/8″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	25

1914 Lambert & Butler Winter Sports Set Overview

This cigarette card set from the UK features a variety of winter sports played around the world. While 25 cards are in the set, there are not 25 different sports featured because many of the sports have more than one card.

The cards feature color lithographic pictures of various sports being depicted, including hockey, skiing, curling, and ice skating. Backs include the Lambert & Butler name and, in addition to a brief title, give a description of the sport being featured.

While many of the late 1920s and 1930s UK tobacco cards have little value, this set is actually a little more desirable, in part because it is significantly earlier than many of those releases.

The set was not Lambert and Butler’s only issue featuring hockey. In 1927, Lambert and Butler Cigarettes distributed a UK set called the World of Sport. Like other similar sets of the era, the set detailed a variety of different sports around the globe. That set included a hockey card of Canada’s Montreal Victorias team.

Hockey

The hockey card is, without a doubt, the most popular in the set. Like some other hockey issues of the time period, this card is titled ‘Hockey on the Ice,’ perhaps in an effort to separate it from field hockey, which was also prominently featured in multi-sport sets.

The hockey card features a goalie with other players in the background. While specific players not listed, the description mentions hockey in Switzerland and states that the Public Schools Winter Sports Club was responsible for much of the popularity of the sport in that country. And, specifically, an annual intervarsity hockey match being played in Mürren, a Swiss village, is cited.

The hockey card is No. 23 in the set.