Just the other day I was going through stuff, looking for old photo albums belonging to my Dad. I was reintroduced to these silks.

Basically I had forgotten all about them. Unfortunately they haven’t been looked after hence the fading, staining and creases.

From what I can gather they were produced in the early 1900’s and are sometimes called “cigarette silks” or “tobacco silks,” although the material is more likely to be satin. They were inserted in packs of cigarettes or could be obtained by sending in coupons stuffed in the packs.

The silks feature famous people, works of art, military coats of arms and sporting colours.

I have scanned some of those that I have and posted the images here just for curiosity. Most appear to have been produced by BDV. They don’t appear to have any great value but are collectable.