Getting Nostalgic about Cigarette Cards...64 Years Ago!

[Oldtix]

Hey, folks...I've been slowly going through some of the old things my late father and I accumulated over our 40+ years of collecting. This may be something you guys are already familiar with, but I sure got a kick out of it. If not, you'll have a good time checking out this "time machine" back to the days before Topps or Bowman ever thought about selling gumcards.

I ran across this 1945 NEWS FROM HOME magazine issued by an insurance company group. The magazine was created specifically for servicemen stationed abroad during WW2 and is filled with nostalgia-laden articles similar to the more recent "Reminisce" or "Good Old Days" magazines.

The editors described the month's cover as follows: "To oldsters and others who are not so venerable, the montage of cigarette cards on the cover and on pages 10 and 11 of this issue may bring back nostalgic memories of carefree boyhood days when the collecting of these colorful trophies was a popular pastime. It was an educational as well as entertaining hobby, and many a lad acquired a fund of information from his card collection far less painfully than from his schoolbooks."

Could they have said it any better?

<img src="http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac351/oldtix/NEWSFROMHOME1.jpg" alt="[linked image]">

Here's the interior article. Note that none of that recent Goudey junk qualified for coverage.

And I guess card flipping has been around longer than I thought...

<img src="http://s915.photobucket.com/albums/ac351/oldtix/NEWSFROMHOME7.jpg" alt="[linked image]">

(Also posted on the Non-Sports Forum Board)

[Kawika]

What a neat item, Oldtix! Thanx for sharing.
" . . many a lad acquired a fund of information from his card collection far less painfully than from his schoolbooks." In 1959 I could cite the batting average of every Yankee but I flunked the fourth grade. True story.

[daviddbreadman]

This is a great piece thank you for sharing!

As an aside, is it possible to flunk the 4th grade?

[Kawika]

It was in 1959.

[canjond]

Nice magazine. Thanks for posting that!

[iggyman]

For no good reason that I can think off, I'm bringing this thread back from the dead. This weekend, I was fooling around with google archives and stumble upon a small 1926 reference to "card flipping" in the Montreal Gazette (of all places). Apparently, it was called "playing pictures" and the debate can now begin on whether card flipping is truly an American icon or does it now join the status of pizza and Halloween.

Here is the link to the full newspaper article (just scroll to the top if you want to read the entire article). Start from the title (Boy Mysteriously Vanished After Playing 'Pictures') or for the condense version, just start from "Auntie Wants You" paragraph:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xtotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-YsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3741,182863&dq=auntie+wants+you&hl=en

Here is the 1926 newspaper excerpt where the reference is made (the article is actually depressing and is based on a missing boy who was last seen "playing pictures"):

25862

[Matthew H]

I'm in. (If anyone gets a game going)

[iggyman]

I'm in. (If anyone gets a game going)

Cool! Okay, bring your cigarette cards to the nearest street corner or roof top and game on! You better bring your "A" game, I was pretty good back in the day.

Lovely Day...

[HRBAKER]

This is a great piece thank you for sharing!

As an aside, is it possible to flunk the 4th grade?

Yes, that was back before everyone got the same size trophy and you had to have the parent's permission to "retain" (eduspeak for flunk) a child.

[tolstoi]

Interesting about the missing kid, I wonder if he was ever recovered? But yeah, this is really pretty neat.

[iggyman]

Interesting about the missing kid, I wonder if he was ever recovered? But yeah, this is really pretty neat.

I searched for his name in the archives but nothing more appears. Sad story, hopefully it somehow had a happy ending and the kid lived a long life. People complain all the time how society is getting worse, but when you read this story (and others from the early part of the century), it sometimes puts some of the old attitudes and indifferences in perspective (especially towards the poor). Yes, societies morals are different today, but in any era, a certain percentage of humans have always been bad to the core.

Lovely Day...

[ethicsprof]

iggy,
thanks for bringing this one back.

best,
barry

[scooter729]

Nice story; thanks for posting. I have always loved the T-218 set and all of its various athletes, so it's nice to see so many cards from that set pictured.

[Leon]

Yes, that was back before everyone got the same size trophy and you had to have the parent's permission to "retain" (eduspeak for flunk) a child.

Jeff- you are so right. We live in a fairly small and close knit community. Here is a letter I wrote to our superintendent a few days ago. Mind you, we moved here 10 yrs ago FOR the school district and still love it. The only small issue is there is almost no ethnic diversity. But we picked the area and are very, very happy where we live....(though we need to downsize but that is a whole 'nuther issue). Our superintendent is Ted Moore...and I do know him a little bit.... (all of the other scores were 88-99)

"Hi Ted
Let me reiterate a common theme among most parents. Every single thing they do is not perfect. Every one of them is not a winner all of the time. There is such a thing as losing. Most parents feel it is very important to allow our kids to do as poorly as they do, without re-taking tests over and over so they too can be a "winner". Most parents, especially us, feel losing/failing is a very important part of learning. How will they cope with it in real life if no one teaches them?

However, Lovejoy ISD doesn't seem to understand that, and if it does, it is not showing it. This score reflects that, imo...


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Overall we love the school district. Please teach our kids that they can't ALWAYS be a winner. Allow them to do poorly when they do ..........well, poorly.
best regards
leon"




He and I went on to have a nice discussion about the topic.