Introduction
T-Cards represent American tobacco issues and are one of the most popular of the designations given by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog. When it comes to tennis cards in the pre-war era, they are most abundant in tobacco card issues printed in the 1920s and 1930s.
These were cards that were either packaged directly with tobacco products or issued separately by tobacco companies. Some tennis issues are American cards. The bulk, however, are from other parts of the world. Several were part of multi-sport issues from the United Kingdom. And while many cards feature actual tennis players, some like the card here, feature a generic picture of the sport.
Tobacco cards were popular (and at least one even led to a marriage) but they were also being blamed for causing all sorts of problems related to children collecting them. After a temporary ban on American tobacco cards in the late 1800s, they came back with a bang in the early 1900s.
From a tennis standpoint, pre-war tobacco sets offered cards from some of the game’s early stars. While tennis cards were released in the late 1800s, the sport did not really start to take off until the 1920s and 1930s with Hall of Fame players Bill Tilden, Helen Wills, Fred Perry, Jean Borotra, Suzanne Lenglen, Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste, and many others gaining recognition.
One important note for this page is that, similar to what occurred with the famous T206 baseball card set, many issues were produced for numerous tobacco brands. Instead of repeating each set in the table below multiple times, some sets are simply listed once by its set name and the individual brands are then mentioned on that page. For example the 1927 Homeland Events set was issued with Lambert & Butler, Wills, and British American Tobacco products. Instead of listing that set three times, it is simply listed as ‘Homeland Events’ with references to those distributors on its page.
A final note with regards to cataloging efforts here. Many tobacco sets were created featuring movie stars. These are generally non-sports sets that may involve an actor or actress with a tennis racket. Because of the large number of those sets and their relative lack of importance to sports card collectors, those have not been listed here.
These issues are interesting as many high-grade examples still exist, despite their age. As stated, the majority were international issues. Those were often preserved by collectors better than their American counterparts as collecting was seen as more of an adult hobby in other parts of the world. Many cards were affixed or placed into collecting books and sat undisturbed for decades. Thus, it isn’t uncommon to see them in very good condition and without major flaws.
Looking to learn more about collecting tobacco cards? Here’s an introduction of sorts that I wrote, which covers their history
Below is a list of pre-war tennis card sets and multi-sport sets where a tennis card can be found.
Sets

1924 A&J Coudens / Monax
Sports Alphabet |

1932 Abdulla Cigarettes |

1914 Adkin’s Sporting Cups
and Trophies |

1939 African Tobacco
World of Sport |

1924-28 Aguilitas |

1935 Ardath Cricket,
Tennis, and Golf Celebrities |

1937 Ardath Tennis |

1935-38 Ardath
Topical Interest Photocards |

1935 Ardath State Express
Sports Champions |

1933 BDV Who’s Who in
Australian Sport |

1920s Bonzo Sets |

1933 Bravour-Bilder Sport |

1927 British Trees
and Their Uses |

1932 Bulgaria-Sport Photos |

1935 Carreras
Popular Personalities |

1924 Cavanders
Homeland Series |

1928 Churchman
Lawn Tennis (Small Cards) |

1928 Churchman
Lawn Tennis (Large Cards) |

1928 & 1929 Churchman
Men of the Moment |

1931 Churchman
Sporting Celebrities |

1927 Churchman
Sporting Trophies |

1934 Churchman
Well-Known Ties |

1920s Cigarrillos Dolar
Color |

1904 Cope’s Flags, Types,
& Arms of All Nations |

1924 Cope’s
Lawn Tennis Strokes |

1925 Cope’s
Sports and Pastimes |

1934/1935 Deutscher Sport |

1933 Deutscher Sport
GEG Cigarettes |

1927-32 Die Welt in Bildern
(Jasmatzi, Josetti, Manoli,
Salem, Sulima) |

1936 Dubek Sports |

1924 Gallaher
British Champions of 1923 |

1934 & 1935
Gallaher Champions |

1938 Gallaher
Island Sporting Celebrities |

1928 Gallaher
Lawn Tennis Celebrities |

1912 Gallaher
Sports Series |

1934 Garbaty
Moderne Schonheitsgalerie
(Modern Beauty) |

1932 Godfrey Phillips
Australian Sporting
Celebrities |

1935 Godfrey Phillips
In the Public Eye |

1930 Godfrey Phillips
Lawn Tennis |

1929 Godfrey Phillips
Sporting Champions |

1910 Godfrey Phillips
Sporting Series |

1923 Godfrey Phillips
Sports |

1937 Godfrey Phillips
Spot the Winner |

1926-36 Greiling |

1927 Homeland Events |

1903 I. Lewis Gold Eagle
Cigars Women and Men
in Costumes (T65) |

1930 J.A. Pattreiouex
Celebrities in Sport |

1935 J.A. Pattreiouex
Sporting Events and Stars |

1931 J.A. Pattreiouex
Sporting Trophies |

1927 James Illingworth
Comicartoons of Sport |

1926 Lambert & Butler
Who’s Who in Sport |

1930s Lucky Strike
Bridge Favors (T14) |

1929 Major Drapkin
Limericks |

1930 Major Drapkin
Sporting Celebrities |

1928 Major Drapkin
Sporting Snap |

1930 Milhoff De Reszke
In the Public Eye |

1935 Mitchell’s Cigarettes
Gallery of 1934 |

1936 Mitchell’s Cigarettes
Gallery of 1935 |

1907 Mitchell’s Cigarettes
Sports |

1932 Monopol
Sport Photos |

1929 Morris
How to Sketch |

1909-11
Murad College Sports (T51) |

1935-36 Muratti Cigarettes |

1923-24 Obsequio de los
Cigarros Nacionales |

1915-16 Obsequio de Susini
(N230-3) |

1927 Ogden ABC of Sport |

1937 Ogden
Champions of 1936 |

1901 Ogden Guinea Gold |

1931-32 Orami
Movie Cards / Filmfotos |

1937 P. Jackson
Pageant of Kingship |

1928 Player and Sons
Lawn Tennis |

1936 Player and Sons
Tennis |

1913-14 Richmond
Artistic Images (T32) |

1936 Real Photographs
of London |

1939 R.J. Hill
Celebrities of Sport |

1901 R.J. Hill Flags,
Arms, & Types of All Nations |

1934 R.J. Hill
Sports Series |

1923 Sarony
Origin of Games |

1929 Sarony Saronicks |

1923 Sarony
Tennis Strokes |

1939 Senior Service
Britain from the Air |

1935 Sights of London |

1929 Simonets
Sporting Celebrities |

1928 Sociedade Industrial
dos Tabacos de Angola |

1928 Tabacalera La Morena |

1925 Turf/Boguslavsky
Sports Records |

1933 Turf
Personality Series |

1902-13 Turkish Trophies /
Hamilton King Girls (T7) |

1929 United Tobacco
Humour in Sports |

1938 United Tobacco
Our South Africa
Past & Present |

1936 United Tobacco
Sports/Pastimes in
South Africa |

1932 Vittoria Egyptian
Cigarettes Sports Series |

1937 Wills British
Sporting Personalities |

1939 Wills
Happy Families |

1932 Wills
Homeland Events |

1936 Wills
Irish Sportsmen |

1931 Wills
Lawn Tennis |

1937 Wills
Our King and Queen |

1913 Wills Scissors
Sporting Girls |

1928 Wills A Sporting
Holiday in New Zealand |

1901 Wills
Sports of all Nations |

1935-36 Wix
Henry’s Adventures |
1927 World of Sport |
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