Trading cards have long been a beloved collector’s item, captivating enthusiasts who aim to complete entire sets. From sports icons to Pokémon, trading cards cover a wide range of themes, with rare editions sometimes fetching millions at auction.
The earliest trading cards appeared in the 1870s when tobacco companies began printing images on the cards used to reinforce the cigarette pack and prevent the cigarettes from bending. Early collectible series depicted illustrations of famous actors and athletes, military uniforms and early planes and aviators.
In 2015, the Museum acquired the Terence Mitchell collection of aviation trading cards, compiled between 1976 and 2015. The collection includes cigarette cards from the 1910s, featuring early aircraft like the Montgolfier balloon and Wright Brothers’ biplane, as well as aviation pioneers.
The Terence Mitchell collection of aviation trading cards/The Museum of Flight.
One Will’s Cigarette card depicts Elise Raymonde Deroche as “Madame the Baroness Delaroche,” and “The First Lady Aviator.” Though not actually nobility, she earned this title after an article on her first solo flight in October 1909. On March 8, 1910, Deroche became the first woman to hold a pilot’s license, issued by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), although she was not the first woman to fly. Her card shows her with a Voisin biplane, the model she likely learned to fly in with engineer Charles Voisin. Before becoming a pilot, Deroche was also a balloonist, like many other early female aviators. During her flying career, she set multiple records, though they are hard to verify since the FAI did not recognize women’s records until after her death. In 1913, she won the Coupe Femina with a four-hour nonstop flight, ending only due to mechanical issues. Tragically, Deroche died in 1919 while co-piloting an experimental aircraft.
The Terence Mitchell collection of aviation trading cards/The Museum of Flight.
Also featured is Besnier, a 17th-century French locksmith. Besnier created a gliding apparatus with folding panels tied to each limb, powered by raising and lowering his arms and feet. He tested the device through a series of trials, starting by jumping off a chair in his home and working up to jumping out of an attic window. Though the exact details are unclear, an account from 1679 in the Royal Society of London states that Besnier’s flight attempt was successful, and he safely landed after gliding over a neighbor’s roof and a river.
As one of the earliest collectible items, cigarette cards provide a unique look into pop culture from a specific point in time. In addition to cigarette manufacturers, companies selling beverages, gum and candy, and even shoes adopted the practice of including collectible cards in their packaging. Widespread manufacturing of cigarette cards came to a halt in 1940 due to the rationing of materials to support the war effort. Today, trading cards have made a comeback and new concepts for series have engaged current generations in the world of collectibles.
This article originally appeared in the January/February 2025 Issue of Aloft, The Museum of Flight's Member magazine. Become a Member to receive new issues of Aloft every other month!