香菸卡 - 電影系列 Tobacco Card / Cigarette Card

香菸卡

今天要為大家介紹幾張我從網路上買到的「香菸卡」（Tobacco card 或 Cigarette card），其實我對香菸卡或比利時巧克力卡不是很熟悉，純粹是因為看到卡片上面有介紹了一些電影相關的資訊，好奇買了幾張。也是拿到之後仔細閱讀才發現原來是菸草公司出的卡片呢！ （國外網站會用 Trade Card 稱呼這種可收藏的卡片）

從網路上查到的資訊，簡單介紹一下：香菸卡是約 1875 年自美國和英國開始盛行的文化，直至1940 年代左右。菸草公司定期出產系列主題卡片，包裝在香菸盒中，讓民眾為了收集卡片定期購買！因為是跟著香菸盒，所以尺寸都不大，大概 4cm*7cm 左右不等。紙質也蠻厚的，摸起來感覺像200磅或者再更厚一點的西卡紙的感覺。

各家菸草公司出版的卡片和主題都不太一樣，電影明星、足球明星、國家建設等，很像郵票的主題設計，非常有趣。每張卡片都會有編碼，有些還會標示出總數量和其編號，讓你可以「購齊」全系列。圖案背面也會有簡單的介紹，兼具娛樂性和教育性。

我手上有的三張是由英國 Imperial Tabacco 總公司或分公司發行的卡片，主題都跟電影有關。

 

 "The Motion Picture" (16/25)（OGDEN' 香菸）
Card Size : 3.6cm * 6.7cm

The Cinematograph was rendered possible by (1) the discovery of chemicals highly sensitive to light ; (2) the invention of the celluloid roll film, and (3) the co-operation of engineer and optical instrument maker in devising the "motion picture" camera. Strictly speaking, no motion is reproduced, each picture is an isolated "snap-shot" taken at a rate of 16 per sec. When a series of these are projected upon the screen at about 16 to the sec., the successive pictures merge into on another, and an appearance of natural movement is seen. After vanishing from the screen, each image persists in the brain until the next appears - a physiological phenomenon known as persistence of vision.

  "Edison's Kinetoscope" (No.39)（Will 香菸）
Card Size : 3.6cm * 6.7cm

The Cinematograph is really a development of the "Zoetrope" or "Wheel of Life". In 1877, E. Muybridge obtained successive pictures of a running horse by means of a row of cameras, but the first practical moving picture apparatus was invented by Edison in 1890. In 1892 he brought out the Kinetoscope, a combination of photography and electricity, by means of which the voice of a phonograph worked synchronously with the action of the figures projected on the screen.

 

   "Modern Cinema Operating Box" (40/48)（Churchman 香菸）
Card Size : 5cm * 6.7cm

 

During recent years cinematography has made remarkable progress in all branches, not least in its technical equipment. An up-to-date cinema contains mechanical devices of great interest, but from the engineering point of view its heart is the operating box. The modern projector is a complex machine requiring great precision in manufacture. Pictures and sound are both recorded on the same film, the latter being confined to a narrow track at the side of the picture. This is transformed into sound and broadcast in the theatre. As the illustration indicates, elaborate precautions are taken against fire.