I was rather surprised at the fact that I could find badminton players on cards, and here we have one of the finest of the 1930s, R.C.F. Nichols.
Our text tells us that “R.C.F. has proved himself a master at Badminton, he has won the All-England Men`s singles title three years in succession and five times in all, and with his brother Leslie retained the men`s doubles for the third successive year in 1938.” And our man also appears on Ogden`s "Champions of 1936", card 7
This set appears in our original reference book to R. & J. Hill (RB.2, published in 1942), with its companion, which we used elsewhere and will link to asap. This reads :
1939 50. CELEBRITIES OF SPORT (titled series) Size 2 9/16” x 1 ½”. Numbered 1-50. Fronts, printed three colour letterpress, from half-tone blocks; white margins.
Backs printed in black only, with descriptions and “Issued by R. & J. Hill Ltd….” at base.50. CELEBRITIES OF SPORT (titled series) Similar to the above in all respects but inscribed on backs, at base, “Issued with Gold Flake Honeydew Cigarettes”
(See Henry Archer & Co.) Both sets printed by W. Oliver, London.
In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes the set is truncated to :
CELEBRITIES OF SPORT. Sm. 65 x 36. Nd. 50.
A. Back “Issued by R. & J. Hill…”
B. Brand issue. Back “Issued with Gold Flake Honeydew Cigarettes”
The other 1920s and 30s players we found were :
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J.F. [Frank] Devlin of Canada - Churchman "Sporting Celebrities" 1931 - card 6
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D.C. [Donald] Hume - Churchman "Sporting Celebrities" 1931 - card 7
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Miss Thelma Kingsbury - Ogden "Champions of 1936" - card 6
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A. Ogier - Gallaher "Island Sporting Celebrities" 1938 - card 25
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J.E. [Jack] Purcell - Churchman "Sporting Celebrities" 1931 - card 8
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Miss L.C. Radeglia (though the card says C.L. on reverse) - Gallaher "British Champions of 1923" - card 50
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Sir G.A. Thomas - Gallaher "British Champions of 1923" - card 11
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Mrs. Uber - R & J Hill "Celebrities of Sport" 1939 - card 45