1904 C.W.S. British Sport Series Set and Checklist

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Pre-War Cards

‘It’s In The Details’

Title	C.W.S. British Sport Series
Year	1904
Size	1 1/2″ x 2 3/4″
Images	Color
Type	Miscellaneous
Number in Set	50

1904 C.W.S. British Sport Series Overview

This rare set is one of the numerous multi-sport issues that was produced internationally.

The set is probably best classified as a miscellaneous type as advertisers on the back vary, covering an assortment of products. Thus far, I have seen the following back advertising brands produced by a company named C.W.S. (though others could exist):

C.W.S. Cocoas and Chocolate
C.W.S. Federation Self-Raising Flour
C.W.S. Hand-Picked Green Peas
C.W.S. Mixed Bird Seed and Bird Sand
C.W.S. No. 1 Starch
C.W.S. Pioneer and Progress Luncheon Tongues
C.W.S. Tinned Rabbits
Wheatsheaf, Progress, Liberty, Mitchell, and Equity brands Salmon

The card fronts themselves picture generic depictions of a variety of sports and activities. As is the case with many of these international multi-sport issues, many of the cards are related to hunting or other loose variations of what we identify as sports today. But some major sports are included, such as hockey, golf, tennis, boxing, and wrestling.

The set is identified largely by the white clouded backgrounds that border a color scene. The title of the sport or activity is presented at the bottom, along with a card number. Checklists are printed on most backs (in the case of the cocoas and chocolates back, the advertisement takes up the full space and no checklist is presented).

The cards are quite rare, which is in line with many other early 1900 international issues. Cards of even the minor sports can command somewhat healthy prices of $15-$25 and cards of the major sports can be considerably more.