Sets in my Collection #12: 1933 Sailor Boy Smokes Beautiful Ships

It's really just a coincidence that I have three different sets from 1933, pure dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time yet again...perhaps my greatest skill (hah!)

This is a set I am really a fan of despite having only this one card. I love the old ships- seeing them, either period illustrations, recreations on TV, or ephemera like this, it stirs feelings in me that I can't quite put into words- kind of like a yearning for something lost, something just out of reach. It's hard to explain and I probably now sound crazy to whoever is reading this.

Compound it with the fact that I have never been on any sort of nautical voyage- the closest I've ever come is to the permanently moored replica of the Mayflower berthed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts, and even that was over a decade ago, and it's the strangest thing.

There are not a lot of sets that feature old ships. How I wish there were! This one dates to right at the start of the Great Depression, and while the set is called Sailor Boy Smokes...this is not a tobacco card. No, this card was included in packs of candy cigarettes! (I remember these were still available when I was younger, [not this brand] but I don't think they are now. I remember they left a terrible taste in your mouth-much like I imagine real cigarettes do)

When I first met one of my regular dealers, I took every transportation themed card he had, and this was the oldest one in the group. Interestingly, he's not a card dealer, but a scale model dealer, who took in several hundred vintage cards as part of a collection he purchased- I have most of the cards now, and some of the models too. There will be several more sets coming up in the very near future that also came from him. (Post #15, 19, 21 and others later I have not figured out the order yet)

The USS Constitution would actually play another role in my collection- my favorite relic card in my entire collection is a piece of the replaced wood deck planking from 2012 Topps American Heritage.

Once again, cards were advertised that were never produced. No series 2 was ever produced, but there is at least one album extant- I've seen a photo of it. It may well be the only one to survive.

The series also covers ancient history- truly my favorite topic- covering ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. It covers up to what was then a current aircraft carrier, although long out of date by now. I would love to get the rest of these cards some day.