These early cards, issued by the
Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain & Ireland, were placed
in packages of cigarettes. I'm sure there is a complete list of
available cards somewhere, meanwhile, the Will's Cigarettes cards
related to opera that I have identified so far include:
-
Stephen Adams
- Emma Albani (opera) 1st # 36
- Bach (composer)
- Michael Balfe (composer) 2nd
- Sir Joseph Barnby (organist)
- Sir Thomas Beecham (conductor/impresario) 2nd
- Beethoven (composer) 1st # 5
- Sir William Sterndale Bennett
(pianist/composer) 2nd
- Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (composer) 2nd
- Bizet (composer)
- Brahms (composer)
- Dame Clara Butt (mezzo-soprano)
- Enrico Caruso (opera) 1st
- Chopin (composer)
- Coleridge-Taylor (composer)
- Sir Michael Costa (conductor/composer) 1st
- Sir Frederick Cowen
(composer/conductor)
- Ada Crossley (contralto) 2nd # 44
- Sir Ben Davies (tenor)
- Debussy (composer)
- Dvorak (composer)
- Edgar Elgar (composer)
- Mischa Elman (violinist)
- Sir Edward German (composer)
- Gounod (composer)
- Harry Plunket Greene (Irish singer) 2nd # 27
- Grieg (composer)
- Marie Hall (violinist ) 2nd
- Hallé (composer) 2nd
- Handel (composer)
- Haydn (composer)
- Liza Lehmann (composer/soprano) 2nd # 33
- Edwin H. Lemare (organist) # 47
- Leoncavallo (composer)
- Jenny Lind (opera)
- Liszt (composer/musician)
- Sir Edward Lloyd (tenor) 2nd # 13
- Kirkby Lunn (mezzo soprano) 2nd # 42
- Edward MacDowell (composer)
- Walter Cecil Macfarren (pianist & composer)
2nd
- John McCormack (tenor)
- Antoinette Sterling (contralto) 2nd # 31
- Sir Alex MacKenzie (composer)
- Sir August Manns (conductor)
- Mascagni (composer) 2nd # 24
- Nellie Melba (opera) 1st # 41
- Mendelssohn (composer)
- Mozart (composer) 1st
- Christine Nilsson (opera) 1st # 31
- Offenbach (composer)
- Ignace Jan Paderewski (musician)
- Paganini (musician)
- Adelina Patti (opera) 1st # 32
- Puccini (composer)
- Henry Purcell (composer) 2nd
- Sims Reeves (tenor) 1st # 17
- Hans Richter (conductor)
- Carl Rosa (Impresario) 1st # 28
- Rossini (composer) 1st
- Saint-Saens (composer)
- Sir Charles Santley (opera) 1st # 23
- Pablo de Sarasate
(musician/composer)
- Schubert (composer) 1st
- Schumann (composer)
- Sibelius (composer)
- Sir Charles Villiers Stanford
(composer) 1st # 37
- Antoinette Sterling (contralto)
- Richard Strauss (composer)
- Sir Arthur Sullivan (composer)
- Luisa Tetrazzini (opera) 1st # 48
- Tschaikowski (composer)
- Giuseppe Verdi (composer) 2nd
- Weber (composer)
- Wagner (composer) 1st
- Eugene Ysaye (violinist)
- Agnes Nicholls
Please note that the above represents a partial
combination of two series produced by Wills. Both series had 50
musical celebrities. The first series was produced in 1912, and the
second in 1914. It is interesting to note that eight cards in the
second series were withdrawn because they were of German
personalities. At the time of the first World War, these cards were
replaced by other "more patriotic" personalities. The
German personalities are the most difficult to find.
Beware!
Be sure you have the genuine article. Reprints of these cards have
been produced in recent years.
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