Cigarette Card Album Appraisal

An Album of Aeroplanes (Civil) - John Player & Sons Cigarette Card Album

This is a vintage paperbound collector's album titled 'An Album of Aeroplanes (Civil)', issued by the tobacco company John Player & Sons, a branch of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland. The booklet was originally priced at one penny. The cover features a monochromatic blue printed illustration of a Cierva C.30A autogiro (registration G-ACFI) against a cloud backdrop, with photography credits to C.A. Sims of 'The Aeroplane'. Physically, the album is constructed from medium-weight cream or off-white cardstock and measures approximately 5x7 inches. Regarding condition, the item shows significant signs of age and handling. There is heavy foxing and brown spotting across the front cover, particularly concentrated on the right side and bottom edges. The corners are slightly blunted, and there is a visible crease or fold mark running vertically through the center of the illustration. A small adhesive residue or piece of blue tape is visible on the bottom left edge. This album dates to the mid-1930s (circa 1935), a period when cigarette companies issued cards for collectors to house in these specially branded booklets. The quality is typical of early 20th-century ephemeral promotional materials, utilizing simple lithographic printing on porous paper. Its value to a collector would depend on whether the interior cigarette cards are present and complete.