John Player's Archive Gallery

Roll Call tobacco and cigarettes, 1922

Player's Roll Call cigarettes and tobacco, pull-out counter card roughly in the shape of a pyramid. The central section depicts a soldier in eighteenth century uniform with a cockade on his hat, smoking a short stemmed clay pipe. Above this picture is a rectangular banner which reads "PLAYER'S // "ROLL CALL" ". The back section stands higher than the banner and shows packs of Roll Call tobacco and cigarettes. The front section, when extended, forms two half-sections of a frame for the picture. On the left hand side is the text "Tobacco // 91/D // per oz." and on the right hand side is the text "Cigarettes // 2D // per packet of // 5". Along the bottom are packs of tobacco and cigarettes. On the reverse is a mechanism to support the extended card and a label which reads "MARDONS // WINDOW NOVELTIES // EMBOSSED SHOWCARDS / &C, &C // VARNISHERS // GELATINERS & FRAME MAKERS // BRISTOL & LONDON."

© Produced by the kind permission of Imperial Tobacco Limited, England

Old Stocks tobacco, 1904

Player's Old Stocks tobacco rectangular counter card. The edge has been cut to resemble a carved picture frame and the card is heavily embossed. In the centre is a miniature of a building on a street corner. It is called "YE OLD STOCKS" and is probably an inn. In one of the windows are two pipes with crossed stems, and what may be a box of cigarettes or cigars and a tin of tobacco. Opposite to the inn is a man in a red jacket sitting in the stocks. At the centre top of the card is a small label with the typed note "No. 41". There is a hanging loop to the top. The text on the rest of the card reads " "OLD STOCKS" // 1OZ PACKET 7D 4OZ TIN 2/3 // 1OZ [ditto marks] 1/1 1/2 8 OZ [ditto marks] 4.6 // SMOKING MIXTURE // JOHN PLAYER & SONS, Castle Tobacco Factory, NOTTINGHAM // BRANCH OF // THE IMPERIAL TOBACCO CO // (of Great Britain & Ireland) // LIMITED". On the reverse is a hand-written note which reads "Please return to // Sherwood Rise // ARCHIVES"

© Produced by the kind permission of Imperial Tobacco Limited, England

Navy Cut Medium cigarettes, 1924

Player's Navy Cut Medium cigarettes in three, tiered sections. The back section is the tallest and comprises packs of cigarettes and a box of cigarettes which has the Castle trade mark as well as the sailor in a life-buoy trade mark. The mid-section is similarly compose of packs of cigarettes and a box of cigarettes with the Castle trade mark as well as the sailor in a life-buoy trade mark. Above the box is a banner with the text "PLAYER'S". The front section, which is the lowest displays packs of cigarettes, One is open and two others have collecting cards protruding. The three sections are connected by a foot, the left and right sides of which have broken off and the back section has become detached. On the reverse is a hand-written note which reads "C117" and there is a printed note which reads "TO DISPLAY // HOLD BY TOP AND // PRESS DOWN ON TO // COUNTER // N.B. // if this display is // required to be closed // bring two struts into // centre first."

© Produced by the kind permission of Imperial Tobacco Limited, England