Although cigarette cards have not generally been issued for about 60 years, there is a strong market for them and they continue to be a popular collectible, with a world record-setting Irish auction of a single collection fetching around £150,000 u150,000 in recent years.

Unlike stamps or coins which continue to be issued, cigarette card collecting has survived despite the dearth of new issues, according to Mr Ian Whyte of Whyte's auction rooms in Marlborough Street, Dublin.

Approximately the size of a business card, cigarette cards tend to have a picture, usually coloured, on one side and the title and number of the series such as "Admirals and Generals, number 1 of 28" on the back. They come in sets of between 10 and 50, or in some instances of up to 500, he says.

The cards originated as packing material to prevent damage to cigarettes. "In the late 19th century cigarette packets were quite flimsy - a bit like American cigarettes but more flimsy than that. In order to protect cigarettes they used to put in card stiffeners," Mr Whyte says.

"They began printing advertisements on them. Then they started printing little pictures on them and people started collecting them. So it all started in the late 19th century and it grew very rapidly," says Mr Whyte.

The craze reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s when it was a "huge hobby - as big as stamp collecting and coin collecting. And every schoolboy in England or Ireland collected cigarette cards. Well, practically.

"Many parents smoked - there were no known health risks. So your dad would come home with a packet of cigarettes and give you the card so you'd collect it."

There were hundreds of different sets to collect such as sport, glamour, nature, flags, military uniforms, animals, exploration, film stars, radio stars, sport, famous houses, quizzes and jokes.

Generally, the pre-first World War cards tend to be the most valuable, being scarcer, says Mr Whyte. And there is often a premium on Irish cards. "The Irish companies would be relatively scarce compared to the English ones. For instance, P.J. Carroll in Dundalk, their sets tend to be quite good.

"There was a set they did on Louth All Ireland Champions, a set of 20, which would be worth maybe £200 now. Most of the Carroll sets are worth at least £30 or £40 upwards," he says.

Some Irish sets were issued by companies such as Player's and Wills in the 1920s and 1930s. These were modified versions of sets released in Britain but the Irish versions tend to be scarcer and more valuable. "You could have an English issue set that would be worth £20 or £30 - the Irish issue is worth £50 or £60. Generally speaking it's about double if it's an Irish set," he says.

Whyte's record-setting auction of cigarette cards in 1996 fetched £150,000. "It was a world record at the time. I think it still stands. I don't think anybody's sold a bigger collection of cigarette cards since."

Three cigarette cards in the shape of tobacco leaves with women on them from the William Clarke company of Cork and Liverpool made £300, while seven out of the set of 20 P.J. Carroll's Louth All Ireland Championship cards fetched £80.