The C-Cards and T-Cards represent tobacco issues and are one of the most popular of the designations given by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog. C-Cards represent tobacco issues in Canada while T-Cards identify those produced in the U.S. and outside of Canada.
These were cards that were either packaged directly with tobacco products or issued separately by tobacco companies. A few, such as Sweet Caporal issues, are American cards. The bulk, however, are from Canada or in other parts of the world as hockey had a limited U.S. audience. Several were part of multi-sport issues from the United Kingdom.
Tobacco cards were popular (and at least one even led to a marriage) but they were also being blamed for causing all sorts of problems related to children collecting them. After a temporary ban on American tobacco cards in the late 1800s, they came back with a bang in the early 1900s.
In addition to the catalogued issues, a host of other pre-war hockey cards were left undefined by Burdick but are presented below.
Looking to learn more about collecting tobacco cards? Here’s an introduction of sorts that I wrote, which covers their history.