Cigarette Card Information

The Military Theme

In the strict sense, the term 'military' has a very specific connotation. It is in fact the military component of the total armed forces and is that part which 'pertains to soldiers or army or land warfare'. Within this military section of the armed forces, there is an enormous number of sets covering all aspects of soldiers, their accoutrements, armed conflicts, and personalities.

The account which follows may manifest a distinctly British bias. There are many obvious reasons for this. The most important is that it was British cigarette manufacturers who issued these cards, British artists and historians who did the research for them, and it was at the height of the British Empire that so many of these cards were produced. The detailed description on some of the cards may in some cases seem somewhat distasteful in terms of manner of description as well as in the use of certain terminology. However, one ought to be aware of the era in which many of these were produced. It should be seen in the context of an era of not only tremendous pride (and justifiably so) in the power and accomplishments of the British Empire, but it was also unfortunately an era of jingoism as well as a somewhat superior attitude. Despite this emotional perspective, the beauty and value of these cards are worthy of admiration.

Military cigarette cards cover a broad spectrum of interest and are best presented under the following headings, which classification has been developed by the author. Since no previous classification existed, the development of this is somewhat arbitrary but is based on a personal collection which is of a sufficiently broad spectrum as to include most topics of interest. However, ongoing enhancement of the collection might naturally lead to a modification of this classification.

• Royalty and Notabilities
• British Regiments
• Home and Colonial, Colonial and Territorial Troops
• Victoria Cross Heroes
• Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)
• Militaria
• The First World War 1914-1918)
• Military Portraits
• Miscellaneous Military Items
• Ogden's Tabs and Guinea Gold Series