A collection of three framed sets of vintage cigarette cards issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills, documenting various modes of transport and record-breaking speed from the early to mid-20th century. The first frame contains five maritime-themed cards featuring notable vessels such as the battlecruiser H.M.S. Hood and the ocean liner The Normandie. The second frame holds five cards depicting railway locomotives, including the streamlined Coronation class engine in blue livery. The third and largest frame displays ten cards from the Wills’s Speed series, circa 1938, featuring world-record-breaking vehicles such as Rudolf Caracciola’s Mercedes-Benz racing car, Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird speedboat, and the speedboat Notre Dame, alongside various racing motorcycles. Each card is printed with the header Wills’s Cigarettes. The cards are presented within cream-coloured card mounts and matching dark burr-wood effect frames finished with a narrow gilt-painted inner slip.
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