Purchasing Cigarette Cards - One Cent Apiece - Feb. 18th, 1888

[Joe_G.]

I posted the following on the non-sport site earlier this week and felt there may also be some interest here. While researching early cigarette packs I came across this interesting account of a young lady paying for cigarette cards to build a modest collection. The newspaper is a bit tough to read and lengthy, but interesting as a whole so I copied it over for easy digesting.

San Francisco Examiner

February 17th, 1888 (Friday)

BOYS AND GIRLS TO BRING THEIR CIGARETTE pictures to 744 Ellis st., basement door, and I will pay one cent apiece for them. Apply Saturday, February 18th, between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.

February 21st, 1888 (detailing events of Saturday, February 18th)

FOR ONE CENT.
------------------
Making a Collection of Cigarette
Picture Cards.
------------------
AN HEIRESS’ WHIM.
------------------
A “Want” Advertisement Which Appeared in
Friday’s “Examiner.”
------------------

The foreign stamp and picture card craze has been superseded by a passion for cigarette pictures of famous footlight beauties, and many young ladies are industriously collecting for an album, but have confined themselves to asking gentlemen friends and relatives to assist them.

It was a novel idea which caused a young lady who has recently become an heiress of considerable wealth, to insert the following “ad,” in the “Want” columns of the Friday issue of the Monarch of the Dailies:

BOYS AND GIRLS TO BRING THEIR CIGARETTE pictures to 744 Ellis st., basement door, and I will pay one cent apiece for them. Apply Saturday, February 18th, between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M.

She was innocent and unsuspecting and had never had any experience with advertising, and she wanted to make a fine collection without any special trouble to herself.

CAUGHT NAPPING.

She was sleeping sweetly, when a violent ring at the door bell of No. 744 Ellis street, at 8 A.M., brought her out of bed and to an acute realization of a part of her “wants.” Sitting astride a sorry looking horse, minus saddle, bridle, shoes or nat, was a ragged urchin of Jewish persuasion, who had got up at 5 o’clock and came in from a milk ranch on the San Bruno road, with a consignment of dirty cigarette pictures. He had about 800 cards, and was much crestfallen when told that only face cards that were not duplicated were wanted. He tried hard to sell the whole job lot, offering them for much less than a cent apiece, but it was no no, and he reluctantly made way for half a dozen school-children of both sexes, who had crowded into the lower hall eager to show and to sell their cards.

THE TIDE SETS IN.

By 10 o’clock there was fully 500 boys, nearly as many girls and a heterogeneous mass of old men and women congregated in front of the house, pushing and crowding their way into the doors or windows, either back or front. Berkeley, Tar Fiat, South San Francisco and the Potrero had a full contingent, and there was a howling, seething mass of humanity beat upon outdoing each other in driving sharp bargains.

“Oh, it was too funny,” said the young lady, in narrating her experience to the EXAMINER man. “The Largest collection offered me was 6,000 cards, and they belonged to a dude who has a mashing stand in front of the Baldwin Hotel. I have seen him many a time, and I was so amused that I could hardly keep my countenance when he was bargaining his cards.

“Directly behind him came an old maid whose whole presence was like concentrated essence of lime-juice, and she had her cards tied up in a corset-box with an old corset-lace, and it was perfectly innocent of wrapping-paper. I could not buy more than fifty out of the lot, and as she gathered up the remainder she snuffed the air and remarked: ‘Seems to me you are mighty particular about your old cards.’”

Soon after a sallow-faced girl of 14 came in and, elbowing her way up to the table where the young lady sat, ahemed and said:

“Ma says she guesses you are getting these cards for the Society for the Suppression of Vice, and she sent you 850.”

“Well, if your mother thinks that she intends to give me these of course?”

“No mum; she said I was to have a cent apiece for every one.”

“Please, ma'am." said a voice at her elbow, "this here's a picture of Patti and she's scarce. You'd better get her," and bristling red hair, freckles and dirt held up the shadow of the fair diva.

GETTING HOTTER.

At 2 P.M. the blinds were closed, doors locked, the bell taken out and a notice, “No more cards wanted!” was posted over the gate and then the fun commenced. In less than five minutes the fence was lined, and a lady friend driving by on her way to the Park, rushed up frantically and wanted to know if a suicide or murder had been committed. The dog in the back yard howled dolefully, the cat has not been seen on the premises since and the gamins sang at the top of their voices:

Chippy on the railroad,
Chippy on the fence,
Chippy get your hair cut
For fifteen cents.

The whole neighborhood was staring suspiciously at the house, and the fathers and mothers of some of the hopefuls had joined the gang.

“Do you moind that!” yelled an Irish woman, pointing to the offending item in the want column of the paper she held in her hand. “Here it is in the paper, and they won’t let me in!” and she tugged away at the door, and finally shook her fist at the windows as she retired under the admonition to “Go and chase yourself!” from the unfeeling mob.

Lunchtime came and went, but there was no lunch in the house that day. At length some of the male members of the family put in an appearance, and as the father went out into the yard and entered the crowd off the premises he was made a target for cards and spitballs, and when he ejected about a dozen boys who had managed to crawl between his legs and push their way into the house they dared him outside, hooting and yelling that they would “lick the life out of him in five minutes.”

A commotion at the back door revealed a newspaper man, who said with a knowing wink, “This ad business is pretty slick. But come, now, I know you’ve got up a corner for an Eastern firm on these cigarette picture cards, and if you’ll let me in, I’ll get you a million in a week.”

“Poor little innocent cigarette picture craze, much you’ll have to answer for.” said the young lady, as she dismissed her visitor.

POLICE AID.

At 5 o’clock a policeman appeared upon the scene and the crowd reluctantly gave up the battle.

“And the result?” queried the EXAMINER man.

“I have secured 2,000 face cards. Among them I have 11 poses of Mary Anderson, 3 of Neilson, 4 of Edith Kingdon-Gould, 14 of Langtry, 10 of Lillian Russell, 7 of Margaret Mather, 17 of Josie Hall, 9 of Marie Burroughs, 20 of Ada Rehan, 7 of Bernhardt, 20 of Jarbeau, 5 of Flora Walsh, 3 of Fanny Davenport, 10 of Fanny Rice, 3 of Patti, the same of Scalchi, Theo, Aimee, 8 of Minnie Palmer, 15 of Pauline Hall, 10 of Modjeska, 8 of Lotta, while Jane Hading, Mrs. Cornwallis West, the Princess of Wales, and Mrs. Cleveland are among the favored ones.”

The pictures are to be unmounted first, and then classified and remounted, burnished and handsomely bound. The book is mounted in a finely carved frame and placed upon an easel where a catalogue of contents is handsomely printed and ornamented with hand-painting. As an addition to an elegantly furnished room, these albums take the place of folios, except where etchings are used in fashionable houses.

“See what trouble an innocent advertisement and a trifling ‘Want’ me here,” said the young lady, “but,” she added, reflectively, “I have all the cards I want, anyhow.”

My, how I would have loved to accept some of her rejects . . . San Francisco in early 1888 would be flush with Gypsy Queen and Old Judge baseball cards, perhaps the occasional Lone Jack etc. I'm amazed by how many cards some of the sellers had at this time, all before the large print runs of many 1888 and 1889 sets by Duke, A&G, and others. These early collections were large and coveted although easily given up for money. Inflation calculator suggests 1 cent in 1888 is equivalent of 29 cents today.

[GaryPassamonte]

Joe, that is great.

[Leon]

Great read....a penny a piece. Probably kind of high in those days..

and a possibly appropriate card...

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by GaryPassamonte

Joe, that is great.

Great reading. Thanks
Love the history behind the cards

[ocjack]

Great article, but who persuaded the "urchin" to be "Jewish?" lol

[JollyElm]

Finally, at long last, time travel has been proven to exist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The next old (never seen before) article that will surface will be about someone in 1910 offering a penny apiece for all Honus Wagner cards. This whole wormhole thing is going to make collecting so super easy that it'll probably end up ruining the hobby. Oh well.

[jcmtiger]

Wow Joe, you sure come up with some interesting posts.

[Yoda]

Wonder if she picked up an Anson RC?