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HISTORY

hockey card from a 1924 Champ's Cigarettesissue.]]
The first hockey cards were included in cigarette packages from 1910 to 1913. After World War I , only one more cigarette set was issued, during the 1924-25 season by Champ's Cigarettes . NHL player Billy Coutu 's biography includes an example of one of the 40 cards issued at that time.

During the 1920s, some hockey cards were printed by food and candy companies, such as Paulin's Candy, Maple Crispette, Crecent, Holland Creameries and La Patrie.

Through to 1941, O-Pee-Chee printed hockey cards, stopping production for World War II . Presumably, the 1941 involvement of the US in the war affected the hockey card market, since Canada had been in the war since 1939.

Hockey cards next appeared during 1951-52, issued by Shirriff Desserts, York Peanut Butter and Post Cereal. Toronto's Parkhurst Products Company began printing cards in 1951, followed by Brooklyn's Topps Chewing Gum in 1954-1955. O-Pee-Chee and Topps did not produce cards in 1955 or 1956, but returned for 1957-58.While there are no firm standards that limit the size or shape of a hockey card, most cards of today are 2-½ inches by 3-½ inches (6.35 cm by 8.89 cm) and in the shape of a rectangle


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