1905 Cohen Weenen Proverbs Set and Checklist

Posted on December 7, 2016 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	Cohen Weenen Proverbs
Year	1905
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 5/8″
Images	Color
Type	Tobacco
Number in Set	30

1904 Cohen Weenen Proverbs Set Overview

1905 Cohen Weenen Proverbs Boxing These cards were issued by Cohen, Weenen & Company for their cigarette packages. The firm was based in London and, as a result, the cards are not seen too often here in the U.S. compared to other sets.

One of Cohen Weenen’s most popular sets is a 25-card set of boxers issued in 1912. But the company created numerous card sets — and often they are rare.

This is one of their rarer sets. It can be considered almost entirely a non-sports set. However, at least one sports card of sorts is included in it – a boxing card. The set includes various proverbs. Each card includes a color cartoon loosely related to a particular phrase. It is similar to another Cohen Weenen set produced around the same time called Naval and Military Phrases. They are mostly humorous in nature since they don’t really depict the true meaning of the phrases.

The boxing card, for example, is called He giveth twice that gives in a trice. The card pictures a boxer hitting a man in the face.

Backs of the cards are printed in blue ink and advertise the company’s Sweet Crop Smoking Mixture. Cohen Weenen called it ‘A most delicious smoke’ that was ‘always reliable.’ The blue ink backs say the cards are part of a series of 400 subjects but only 30 cards are known in this specific set.

The set is often cited as from 1905 but has been assigned some other dates as year from the early 1900s.

The cards are pretty rare to find and not seen all that often. Commons typically sell for around $10 while the boxing card may cost a little more due to its sports nature.