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TABACALERA COSTARRICENSE, S.A. DEPORTISMO COSTRARRICENSE BASKETBALL CARDS (COSTA RICA)
Tabacalera Costarricense S.A. was founded as the first cigarette factory established in Costa Rica during the 1930s. It is now part of Philip Morris International. They produced these cards in the early 1940s - the exact year has not been determined but has been narrowed down to the 1940-44 range. The cards were distributed in their Domino and Cacique brand cigarette packs.
It was a very large overall set consisting of over 1,000 cards. It looks to have been released in multiple series, with a known 48 page album to accompany the first series, titled Conozca Su Pais (Know Your Country). This series consisted of heads of state, presidents, church leaders and architecture and consisted of 221 numbered cards.
The sports cards from this series, titled Deportismos Costarricense (Costa Rican Sports), were all numbered in the #500’s up until #1000’s and included soccer, baseball, cycling, basque and basketball. I haven’t found an example of an album that may have accompanied them, but I was told that there was one and that it was much rarer and larger than the initial Conozca Su Pais album. It was said to contain in excess of 700 cards!
The cards were distributed one per cigarette pack regionally and I've been told that the production for the sports album was limited to 300 copies. Needless to say, these are scarce, with very few examples of multiple cards ever surfacing.
It is unknown exactly how many cards featured basketball players as there is no published checklist for the set but it could easily be 100 or more. The cards have a semi-gloss front, and the photos are either a grey or slightly pinkish tint/hue. The backs contain the player name and a brief bio and advertisement for either Domino or Cacique cigarettes.
Measurements: 1.675” x 2.5”
early 1940s
