Collectable cigarette card

A collectable cigarette card featuring an illustrated headshot of Vivien Leigh, produced in the late 1930s by The Imperial Tobacco Company for their John Player & Sons cigarettes.

The card suggests that the owner should 'Ask your tobacconist for the attractive album (price one penny) specially prepared to hold the complete series'.

This particular card is no. 22 of series 3. Vivien Leigh's inclusion in the series speaks to her growing fame and visibility as a British film star at this time. The brief text on the reverse of the card offers an overview of Vivien Leigh's career to date, noting her sudden rise to fame in 1935 and her subsequent film work, including: Things are Looking Up, A Yank at Oxford, Storm in a Teacup and St. Martin's Lane (also known as Sidewalks of London). It lists her hobbies as 'riding, hunting and ski-ing.'

The headshot on the other side includes Vivien Leigh's signature. In light of the listed titles and the lack of reference to Gone with the Wind, the card was likely produced in 1938.