Piedmont Cigarettes was an American brand of cigarettes produced by the Piedmont Cigarette Manufacturing Company in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 1929 to 1956. During its production run, Piedmont cigarettes distributed collectible tobacco cards featuring baseball players with the cigarette packs. These Piedmont baseball cards have become highly sought after by collectors today due to their historic significance and limited availability.
Piedmont began inserting baseball cards into their packs in 1933 as a promotional tool to help bolster sales. At the time, tobacco cards featuring famous baseball stars were becoming extremely popular with American smoking consumers. Most major cigarette brands like Camel, Chesterfield and Lucky Strike had already launched successful tobacco card series. Piedmont saw this as an opportunity to compete in the marketplace by offering their own brand of baseball collectibles.
Between 1933-1956, Piedmont issued 20 different series of baseball cards featuring many of the game’s greatest legends from that era. Some of the most notable players featured on Piedmont cards included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Jackie Robinson. Their poses and uniforms dated the cards precisely to the year they were issued. This made Piedmont cards highly prized by collectors looking to fill gaps in their players’ career timelines.
Unlike competitor brands that used thick card stock, Piedmont cards were printed on thin paper more reminiscent of modern trading cards. This made them potentially more prone to damage over time. As a result, finding intact vintage Piedmont cards in top Near Mint or better condition is considered quite difficult by collectors today. Only the most careful preservation practices allowed many to survive over 65+ years intact.
In terms of design and production, Piedmont cards generally featured a single player pose in horizontal shape sizes ranging from about 2.5 x 3 inches up to 3.5 x 5 inches depending on the series. Players’ names and positions were abbreviated beneath pictures on earlier issues. Later high-numbered cards contained more comprehensive statistics as the promotion grew in scope. Color variations exist within sets as well due to different ink batches used during printing.
The largest and most complete Piedmont sets were issued from 1939-1942 and contained 66 cards each across the four series’. These included players from both the American and National Leagues making for comprehensive checklists at the time. Finding a fully completed Goudey set in high grade is considered the holy grail for Piedmont collectors today. An unopened original case of several series from the 1930s would easily fetch six figures at auction.
While tobacco companies pulled card inserts from 1955 onwards due to public health concerns, Piedmont issued their final baseball card series in 1956 just prior to ceasing cigarette production altogether later that year. This 20 card set featured a mix of star rookies and veterans from the 1955 season. It stands as one of the last ever tobacco card releases. Fewer than a dozen intact surviving examples are known to exist today making each one highly valuable.
From a regional standpoint, the Piedmont cigarettes brand and their baseball cards hold extra significance because the company originated and printed everything in North Carolina. This provided local employment and boosted the state’s tobacco industry for years. Finding Piedmont cards graded and authenticated allows collectors a glimpse into that lost era of sports, business and collecting history in the Tar Heel state specifically.
A pioneering brand, Piedmont was among the first American cigarette makers to take advantage of baseball cards as a promotional gimmick. While short-lived compared to more famous competitors, their vintage tobacco issues remain incredibly desirable objects for patient collectors and researchers today. Retaining historical accuracy from the time period, Piedmont cards occupy a unique niche within the wider world of tobacco memorabilia collecting. For those seeking to better understand their origins and follow the trail of tobacco across early 20th century America, few areas hold more allure.
In conclusion, Piedmont tobacco baseball cards were an influential yet lesser-known component of collectibles history from the 1930s and 40s. As one of the original brands to utilize the increasingly popular medium of sports-themed trading cards, Piedmont helped popularize the intersection of two great American pastimes – baseball and smoking. For enthusiasts of vintage cardboard or those wanting to learn more about an iconic regional industry, these forgotten gems continue attracting new fans and preserving invaluable insights into our past.
