Why “Tobacco Presidents”?
See this post.
What are tobacco cards?
Cards initially were included in tobacco packages as a way to stiffen the packaging in protecting the product. The cards featured a variety of famous personalities, famous locations, animals, and a host of other themed sets. Including cards in tobacco packing was an easy way to help sell more product as people wanted to complete their sets.
Early cards were categorized by Jefferson Burdick and where the cards could be found (tobacco, candy, caramel, etc.). Some famous baseball card sets are known by Burdick’s categorization in the American Card Catalog (e.g., the famous Honus Wagner card from the T206 set). In my posts, you’ll see me refer to the American Card Catalog numbers for the sets categorized by Burdick.
Where can I buy tobacco cards?
In an online world, there are plenty of places to purchase tobacco cards – eBay is a great resource and price guide, but there are a host of other auction sites and online stores like Checkout My Collection where you can find tobacco cards of all kinds.