It is possible to date many of the early A&G card sets through study of album redemption coupons together with excerpts from a rare surviving copy of an old weekly Tobacco Journal (May 1889 to May 1890). The Tobacco Journal entries help establish a typical sequence of events for each new card issue including an advertising banner at point of sale to entice smokers into buying their smokes. In addition to the card inserts, the cigarette packs would include a redemption coupon with details of the upcoming album of the same subject matter. These redemption coupon details sometimes included the album’s release date which was often a month or two after the cards were introduced to allow the smoker time to save up.
I will be sharing redemption coupons from my collection and several Tobacco Journal entries that support the dates assigned to the sets found below. The listed card sets fall short of covering all the A&G sets issued over 1888, 1889, and 1890 but instead represents only the sets for which evidence was found to support the assigned dates. The evidence for these dates will then follow.
Observations/Comments- There was no one busier than A&G during the late 1880s in creating, promoting, and pushing out new card sets. The above named sets may not even account for half the sets they would issue over 3 year period leading up to ATC merger.
- There is a lot of overlap amongst the sets with A&G’s most popular brands, Richmond Straight Cut No 1 and Virginia Brights, distributing all the cards referenced here as evidenced by their banners. Lesser brands would also carry cards.
- The ability to date the N28 and N29 sets only became possible through two recent discoveries. The date assigned to N28 cards is based on a "new to the hobby" redemption coupon for the World’s Champions album (A16). The Tobacco Journal was another recent discovery which includes an interesting entry for our beloved N29 cards.
- It appears that N29 (Series 2 of Champions of the World) may have came about after seeing the popularity of N28. The other card sets to enjoy more than a single series (“Flags of All Nations” and “World’s Beauties”) seemed planned in advance with seamless transition from one to the next. The popularity of N28 may have kicked off desire for a 2nd series at a later date.
- American Indian Chiefs cards (N2), the banner, and album were very popular. Will post more of the entries for this card set if there is interest.
- The larger format cards (e.g. N43), distributed in 20 count packs, became common in 1889.
- There were far fewer sets issued after the merger. The N25 cards (Wild Animals of the World) were likely planned before the merger and were not canceled. These post-ATC merger cards would also be found in packs of Goodwin’s cigarettes.
For those interested in the details . . . here is a quick study on the known A&G redemption coupons.
Please let me know if you are aware of any I’m missing, I enjoy collecting and studying these coupons for the story they help convey. The album availability dates were printed on the early coupons as follows:
A8 (March 1st, 1888) Flags of All Nations (features N9, N10, & N11 cards)
A14 (June 1st, 1888) World’s Beauties – 1st Series (features N26 cards)
A15 (July 1st, 1888) World’s Beauties – 2nd Series (features N27 cards)
A18 (August 1st, 1888) World’s Racers (features N32 cards)
A12 (Sept. 1st, 1888) Racing Colors of the World (features N22 cards)
A5 (Sept. 1st, 1888) City Flags (features N6 cards)
A16 (Nov. 1st, 1888) World’s Champions (features N28 cards)
The list of coupons continue below minus the album dates as this was no longer included. However, a quick study allows them to be sorted and placed in proper chronological order as follows.
A3 – Birds of America (features N4 / N37 cards)
A2 – American Indian Chiefs (features N2 / N36 cards)
A20 – George Washington (no cards featured)
A9 – Game Birds of America (features N13 / N40 cards)
A17 – World’s Champions – 2nd Series (features N29 / N43 cards)
A4 – Birds of the Tropics (features N5 / N38 cards)
A7 – Fish from American Waters (features N8 cards)
A22 – Our Navy (no cards featured)
I will finish by sharing several entries from an old 19th century Tobacco Journal that helped date more of the card sets.
June 21st, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter’s Fans of the Period Banner (G6) and Cards (N7)
July 5th, 1889, page 7 – Allen & Ginter’s American Indian Chiefs Album (A2)
August 16, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter 2nd Series of the World’s Champions (N29)
September 13th, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter Birds of Tropics Banner (G4) and Cards (N5); Album to Follow (A4)
October 18th, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter’s Fishes of the World Album (A7) and Banner (G7)
November 29th, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter Types of All Nations Banner (G27); Cards (N24) and Albums to Follow
December 27th, 1889, page 5 – Allen & Ginter Sovereigns of the World Banner (G26) and Cards (N34)
March 21st, 1890, page 5 – Allen & Ginter Quadruped Album (A11)
April 18th, 1890, page 5 – Allen & Ginter Wild Animals of the World Banner (G28)
As more coupons are discovered and literature uncovered we may be able to place more sets to this timeline. While not complete I figured this work-in-progress was worth sharing at this time.