From the publisher:
An illustrated history of football trade cards, an epic saga of 1,000 brands and myriad collections. The A-Z traces the earliest cards and stickers - British inventions, both - through a century of sports cards from tobacco cards to Panini stickers, via everything that came in between: footballers issued with chewing gum and sweet cigarettes, lucky bag mementoes, football teams cut from packets of tea, and many more. It chronicles the epoch of our forefathers and the very first football cards, dating back to the 1880s, followed by the era of their children and the earliest stickers - and so the rise of cigarette cards and paper soccer star adhesives. These days, along with our Panini stickers and trading cards, we appreciate these vintage treasures not only for their beauty but also for their value. Fond recollections of childhood passions past and present will warm hearts, while enchanting galleries of rarely seen cards will captivate football fans and collectors alike. Incorporating a guide to values, the A-Z is priceless.
The author:
Carl Wilkes helped create the football cards scene of today. In the 80s he penned articles on soccer cards. In the 90s he issued the first ever soccer cards journal. By 1996 he had the first football cards website in the world. As creator and publisher of the Football Card Collector Magazine he has contributed articles to numerous newspapers, periodicals and books. In 2018 he appeared on TV in Stuck On You: The Football Sticker Story.
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