As an ardent anti smoker it will no doubt appear strange to some that I should collect cigarette cards. After all, the purpose of the cigarette card was to attract people to buy cigarettes. Most cigarette cards are small rectangular pieces of printed cardboard, however, some manufacturers experimented with different formats. Variations included differences in shape, size, and materials of manufacture (the most popular being silk.) Of the silk cards, most were printed but occasionally, as in the case of the Kensitas silks, they were woven.
Kensitas Silk flowers were given away with J. Wix & Sons Ltd.'s Kensitas Cigarettes from about 1933. Up to five different coloured threads might be used to create a single flower and hence a lot of colour variations exist. There are also a number design varieties although these are quite rare. The silks themselves were issued in printed card wallets that gave details of the flowers, many also had adverts for the Cigarettes themselves printed on the back.
The silks are very delicate and prone to damage, especially if removed from their sleeves. Unfortunately, this is the only way you can actually tell the number and series of each silk without reference to a catalogue. Even the spaces in the Albums were not named, "it is believed that part of the joy of possession of the Album will be in arranging the flowers according to personal preference." What's more, if the silks are removed from their sleeves en-masse, it can take a fair amount of knowledge to re-match silk and folder. When they were issued, it was also not uncommon for housewives to sew large numbers of the silks together to make decorative household items such as cushions and fire screens. Nowadays, they make attractive framing pieces.
It was their beauty that first attracted Valerie and I to start our collection. Although not cheap, the quality of their manufacture marks them out. It's unlikely that we'll ever see their like again, certainly as free promotional items.
This page was started on 23/2/99 and last updated on 31/5/00.
