In the early 20th Century collecting illustrated cigarette cards became a popular hobby. The cards were slipped into every packet of cigarettes to stiffen them, but were soon branded and illustrated with attractive images that became collectable. Often issued in thematic sets, they encouraged brand loyalty and possibly an underage smoking habit!

The trend was international, and tobacco manufacturers in Malta also joined in. Scerri’s Cigarettes, based, as far as I can tell, at Hamrun’s The Smoker’s Rest, produced their own sets of cigarette cards with a more local focus. Amongst cheaply printed sets of cards showing local politicians, World’s Famous Buildings (the first in the series was Mosta Dome and the Royal Opera House also featured!), and the usual film starlets, a set of cards including Malta Railway stations was published.

So far I’ve identified four out of 401 cards in Scerri’s set of Malta Views that show the railway. These are two views of Birkirkara and two of Museum station, Imtarfa. They were produced around the 1920s. The images are all credited to E A Gouder and replicate well known postcard views. With just one card per pack, you’d have to smoke a LOT of cigarettes to collect all cards in the set! I wonder how many there were of railway scenes?