The name of the London based firm of Taddy & Co is held in awe by cigarette card collectors, established in 1740 by James Taddy a purveyor of tobacco, snuff and tea. By the end of the 19th century his business had grown to become one of the most significant tobacco companies in Britain. 
 

By 1907 James Taddy & Co. was a well established tobacco concern having been established in the mid-18th century. As collectors will know, cards were originally inserted into thin paper cigarette packets in order to stiffen them up and prevent damage to the product and Taddy’s first set – ‘Actresses‘ – appeared in 1897. Then, in 1907, they launched into the football card market.

The ‘Prominent Footballers’ cards produced in 1907 are classed as the ‘first’ series of 595 players and they appear with versos of either ‘Grapnel’ or ‘Imperial Tobacco’ with no ‘footnote’