Description

Item Specifics Type: Tobacco Card / Cigarette Card Manufacturer: Cavanders Ltd. (London & Glasgow) Series: Camera Studies - A Series of Hand Coloured Real Photos Card Number: 6 Subject: "Off to Bed" (Scene with Longfellow Poem excerpt) Release Year: 1926 Original/Reprint: Original Description Up for sale is a stunning original 1926 tobacco card from Cavanders Ltd. entitled "Off to Bed." This card is part of the Camera Studies series, which was highly innovative for its time. Rather than traditional illustrations, Cavanders used Real Photos that were meticulously hand-coloured, giving each card a soft, painterly aesthetic that sits between a photograph and a work of art. Historical & Literary Value: The reverse of the card features an excerpt from a poem by the famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882). The scene depicts a "fond mother" leading her "little child to bed," capturing a nostalgic slice of early 20th-century life. About the Set (History): Founded in 1775, Cavanders Ltd. was one of the oldest tobacco firms in the UK. They were industry pioneers in the 1920s for moving away from lithography toward high-quality photographic series. The "Camera Studies" series, released in 1926, consisted of 56 medium-sized cards featuring landscapes, animals, and sentimental domestic scenes.