More Stunners from the 1930s

A few months ago, I shared some cards from the early 1930s that were more like little pieces of art. They were originally issued by a German margarine company called Sanella—one card in each package. Impressively, the Sanella company published an accompanying "Handbook of Sports" that you could order separately. Inside, you'd find a space reserved for each card, along with detailed information about each sport or activity.

 

There are 112 cards in the set, and many are quite affordable considering their age and delicate nature (they're paper thin). The first four I purchased were "absolute had to have 'em", but I knew I'd eventually go back to look over the checklist and find a few more that I really enjoyed, either for the artistry or the sport featured.

Have a look at these beauties:

  

 

 

Last time, I mentioned how a successful piece of art should draw you in and force you to look at it. It freezes that moment of action. And this card certainly does it! What a great angle, too. You can almost hear the creaking of the oars and the swishing of the water as the rowers do their thing. 

 

 

 

 

I haven't followed women's professional tennis since the days of Maria Sharapova, Martina Hingis, and the Williams sisters. I only have a few tennis cards of any kind in my collection. However, I couldn't pass this one up. The image is cropped in such a way that makes this woman seem like she's playing in an opera house instead of on a tennis court. Her name is Cilly Aussem, and in 1931 she became the first German (man or woman) to win the singles title at Wimbledon. Considering the Sanella set was issued in 1932, it's no surprise that Aussem was included!

   

 

 

 

As a hockey player and fan, I knew I wanted this card from the start. However, it was a bit more pricey than many of the others in the set, so I took my time and did some searching. When I saw the color and centering on this particular copy, I went for it. Unfortunately there's not a whole lot of descriptive text on the back of the card—only that this particular game is between Brandenburg and S.C.C. (Sport-Club Charlottenburg).

 

Based on some quick research, it looks like a Brandenburg player (red and white) is about to score a goal. 

 

  

 

 

 

Finally, we've got this gem. You're looking at Clas Thunberg, a speed skater from Finland who took home five Olympic Gold Medals in the discipline—three in 1924, and two in 1928. 

 

This image must be from a speed skating competition, but I like to think that Clas is back home in Finland, and this is just the way he commuted to the office in the morning.

  

 

Here's the back of his card, for reference:

 

 

Most of that text consists of advertising, plus instructions on how to order your handbook. (It will be delivered postage-free upon receipt of a 70 Pfennig stamp addressed to "Sanella," P.O. Box No. 125, Berlin C2. Please clearly indicate your address.)

 

So, I've got eight cards from this set now. And there's a reason why I went for that many. 

 

 

 

In no world was I going to just tuck these cards into a box and forget about them. I had to display them in a binder. 

 

Eight-pocket pages do exist, and that was my initial intent. However, after taking some measurements, I discovered that these Sanella cards are just a tiny bit too big for those pockets. The next-best thing was the 5-pocket page that you see above. There's a noticeable amount of empty space around each card, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do.

 

Besides, the Sanella cards are pretty happy in this particular binder, which houses a small-but-growing collection of vintage sport and non-sport cards from sets like Gum Inc. Adventure and World on Wheels (which you see peeking out from underneath).

 

Ultimately, these kinds of cards have been fueling a good portion of my collecting energy these days, and I might keep searching for more examples. There's certainly a lot out there, and the artwork is often fantastic. 

 

Thanks for reading along, and here's to the continued search!

Stunners from the 1930s

So far this year, I've focused on adding more vintage cards to my collection. But I'm not talking about baseball, or any other major sport. It's the other stuff I've been after. And even more specifically that that, it's got to be real eye candy.

 

First I found a few cards from a 1956 set released by Gum Inc. called "Adventure". A couple of months later, I picked up a few more beauties from that same set.

 

Now I want to share a few cards from an even older set. I didn't know anything about it until the following image came up in a random online browsing session. 

 

 

I was floored. 

 

It's just such a cool scene. Three archers in uniform with bows drawn and aimed toward the sky, displaying their technique. On a trading card.

 

I had to do more research.

 

It turns out that the card was issued by a German margarine company called Sanella. One card was included inside each margarine wrapper, and there were 112 cards in the set. They measure 2 3/4 inches by 4 1/8 inches.

 

Here's another example: 

 

 

 

Total stunner.

 

And that's the thing about great artwork. It captivates you by freezing a moment in time. Think about it. If this card were an 8-foot by 4-foot painting in a museum and you saw it from across the room, it would stop you in your tracks and almost force you to take some time to look at it and appreciate it.

 

Here's another fantastic example: 

 

 

 

Great vantage point, right?

 

Now here's what you'll find on a card back:

 

 

 

Here's the first three lines of text, translated by online software: 

 

German fencing champion Helene Mayer (front right) against Hungarian champion Miss Bogen

As for the text after that, you're in for a pretty cool surprise. Check this out:  

 

The space for pasting in this picture is left blank under the keyword "Fencing" in the Handbook of Sports section.

Yeah, that's right. Back in 1932, you could have obtained a handbook of sports from Sanella, and slotted each collector's card into its very own section!

 

I found some images of it online. Here's the front cover:

 

 

 

And here are a couple of interior pages:

 

 

 

 

Now more translation from the card back:

  

This handbook, which contains space for 112 different colorful collectible pictures, provides alphabetical information on the entire field of sports on 120 pages and is also equipped with more than one hundred monochrome illustrations. It will be delivered postage-free upon receipt of a 70 Pfennig stamp addressed to "Sanella," P.O. Box No. 125, Berlin C2. Please clearly indicate your address.

These sports pictures are available when purchasing Sanella margarine, one picture for every half pound. A special exchange center will allow the exchange of any missing pictures starting in February 1933.

 

If you collected baseball stickers in your younger days and had the accompanying album to stick them in, those paragraphs will sound quite familiar.  

 

But back to the cards now. Here's the fourth one I purchased:

 

 

 

What a great study in light and dark, big and small. That climber is just a tiny speck of life, dangling in the shadows, compared with the enormous range of mountains surrounding him. I think the only sound he'd be hearing right there is the wind, and an occasional creaking of the rope that he's rappelling down. How much farther does he have to go? We've got no idea. But he's probably never breathed such fresh oxygen or felt more alive and aware.

 

And that's what I've been adding to my collection lately. These particular cards ran me between $5 and $12 each, which is quite affordable considering their age and foreign origin.

I think the next step is creating a binder for my growing vintage multi-sport and non-sport collection. Some of them, like these Sanella cards, are cut at an unconventional size, so I've got to find pages that will accommodate them. Might take some research, but it'll be worth the time spent. Cards like these need to be in a binder, not tucked away in a box somewhere.

How about you readers and collectors? Are you fans of the more obscure vintage cards like these? 

 

Let me know in the comment section, and thanks for reading!