In the late 19th century and early 20th century tobacco companies began including collectible trading cards in cigarette packs as a way to incorporate marketing into the packaging. The cardboard of the cards stiffened the packaging and helped protect the cigarettes. Early cards depicted famous historical leaders, Indian chiefs, celebrities and athletes of the time, as well as nature scenes and cityscapes. Cards would be produced in limited-production series, typically with about 25-50 related subjects, although there are a few known series that were much larger, with up to 100 cards.
As more and more companies produced cards, it became difficult to differentiate between them all. At this point the cards’ production quality became a bigger factor in how desirable and valuable the cards were. A few companies produced “premium” silk trading cards. They were highly sought after and considered a special luxury, especially when compared to cardboard trading cards which had become the norm and included as part of all cigarette packaging. In an effort to save resources, all trading cards were eliminated from cigarette packs during WWII and didn’t reappear after the war ended.
Rowing’s hay-day was taking place at the same time; it was the premier big-money, professional sport of the day. It can be likened to modern day football. Races would draw in huge crowds and cities would host big, extravagant fairs, similar to the World’s Fair, for regattas. Rowing’s peak continued into the 1930s and then experienced a steep decline after WWII as other sports such as baseball and football surpassed it.
Also during the beginning of the 20th century, it was not acceptable for women to smoke. In effort to increase sales, cigarette companies needed to attract women without directly advertising to them since it was still socially unacceptable for women to smoke. They started to include cards with famous women; beautiful women; and women with children, hoping, women would request that their male sweethearts would buy those specific brands, in order to acquire the cards included in the package. A few companies started to produced cards on silk to directly appeal to women’s interest in more decorative items.
The quality of the silk trading cards varied widely between brands and even between series produced by the same company. Silks of better quality were highly sought after; the better the fabric and the more vibrant the colors the better. The best silks had production information printed at the bottom, such as the company’s name and details about which factory they were produced in. Women would seek the highest quality silks to create decorative household items, such as quilts, pillows, and wall-hangings. Often companies would even include directions on how to make items out of the silks.
The marketing ploy worked, when combined with other cultural forces happening at the time. Smoking quickly became socially acceptable for women, and then even fashionable. As soon as this shift began to occur cigarette companies immediately ceased production of the costly and extravagant silk trading cards since they were no longer needed to entice women, and their buying power, into the cigarette market.
The card that was produced in 1910 as part of Murad Cigarettes’ S22, “Athlete and College Seal” silks collection. Each silk card was 3.5 x 5 inches and folded in quarters to fit in cigarette packages. Twenty-five schools are depicted with 10 different sports cards. Within each schools’ set there are two individual cards for baseball, football, golf, and hockey and one card each for both rowing and track. The schools included in the series are: Annapolis, Brown, California, Chicago, Colorado, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio State, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Purdue, Stanford, Syracuse, Texas, Virginia, West Point, Wisconsin, and Yale.
All the pieces of the puzzle come together to make our Murad Cigarettes’ Virginia Rowing Collectible silk trading card rare and very valuable. The timing worked out more impeccably than even the best boats’ catch timing, in that rowing happened to be the most popular sport when cigarette companies were trying to appeal to women with the exclusive silk trading cards.
Despite Murad’s production of the particular Virginia Rowing silk trading card in 1910, the Virginia Rowing program didn’t exist at the time. The club was founded in 1877 and ran until just after 1883. The club then laid dormant for years, not becoming active again until it was refounded in 1967.
We are fortunate to have a well preserved original card–it’s the most widely missing card to even the most dedicated collectors’ sets of all 250 cards in the series. This specific series is currently one of the most sought after; due to the company’s high production quality of original silk trading cards made at the time. We are very fortunate that our copy of the card has stayed well preserved, without tears, fraying, or discoloration since most of since most of the silk trading cards were used up in the creation of decorative household items.