Wills Cigarettes Lucky Charms Cigarette Card No.46 Eye-agate

Cigarette cards are an interesting part of history, created between the 1870s and the 1940s as stiffeners to prevent cigarettes being crushed in their paper packaging they are still widely collected to this day. 

Wills cigarettes were a tobacco giant in their time and their cards were sought after, including a 50 piece “Lucky Charms” set. This particular card is number 46 within this set, featuring an Eye-agate design. We have included the information below as the history is fascinating, Evil-Eye protection stones have been a popular tourist curiosity for such a long time and we can all recognise them however from whence them came is not as well known! 

These enati eye-stones were first worn for protection in the East, but afterwards the custom of wearing these charms spread to almost all countries. Implicit faith was placed in their reputed magical power to guard the wearer from the dreaded influence of the evil-eye. From the very earliest times the imagined influence of the evil-eye has struck terror into the hearts of the weak-minded, ignorant, and superstitious.

The uncanny effect of the "eye" is produced by cutting through the parallel bands, or layers, of the different colours which form the agate.

The card itself is in good condition with no tears or major discolouration or stains and measures at approximately 6.5cm to 3.5cm.