1930 Peeps into Prehistoric Times

I have a few questions about this set I'm hoping someone can help me with.

First off it says it's the 4th series but It's the only Prehistoric Times series I've seen. I'm assuming it's the 4th series of the Peeps Into Many Lands series. If that's not correct let me know.

There are 2 different sizes of the 4th series each with different images.
Were they both issued the same year?
Is one size scarcer than the other?
Were both sizes distributed the same way?

I was also wondering if the left and right cards were distributed as pairs or if they all had to be tracked down individually. Almost every lot I've seen has matching pairs so I was curious.

I can make a start. These are cool, so I'll add a bit of fact and a bit more speculation and see if any old-timers can chip in with more. Was anybody here a British smoker 83 years ago?

You're right on the set numbering. Prehistoric Times was the fourth Peeps after three series of Peeps Into Many Lands.

I think that they were always issued in pairs, because that was the real point (and indeed they almost always show up today as pairs). They were stereo photos, and Cavenders sold viewers -- thus these were some of the earliest 3D cards made. Here's a pic: Cavenders Camerascope. The first Many Lands set had the left and right photos on a single card for the largest of three sizes and a different viewer. The "pairs" viewers were spring-loaded and handled both of the two sizes for the four series.

Both sizes of Prehistoric Times were issued in 1930. The catalogs and price guides show the larger version at about double the value of the smaller one, which could hint at scarcity, or not. Probably they were distributed the same way - back then the cigarettes were sold in sturdy and colorful tins, and the packaging might have cost more than the product.

About 8 years ago my grandmother gave me a huge box of cigarette cards which her mother and other relatives had collected, dating from 1900 to the mid 1930s.
In sorting through them I had a lot of the Peeps Into Many Lands cards, and was able to make lots of pairs. I remember having several of the 4th series which were all dinosaurs.(I'm not sure if there was any other subject for that set)

Anyway I was so interested in the stereoscope qualities, so managed to buy an old small stereoscope for about £5 and viewed the cards. WOW, they are stunning. It takes a while to get your eyes to adjust, a bit like Magic Eye pictures, but once you do, the results are incredible. Some of the places shown do not exist anymore or are not open to the public any longer.

I had lots and lots of the small size cards from the first three series, but less of the large cards, so I definitely would say the larger cards are more rare and are worth more. It's probably to do with buying a larger packet/tin of cigerattes when most people bought, and could only afford, the smaller packs.

I sorted through and sold off most of the cigarette cards in that box, including the few series 4 dinosaur cards, but I'm never going to sell the Peeps Into Many Lands cards. A real piece of history and very entertaining too.

I've got some of those cards somewhere, can't remember if it's a full set or not. I think it is.

Thanks for the information.
I bought a camerascope viewer last week but it has not arrived yet. It was cheaper to buy it from the UK where they are a little more common.

quote:

Originally posted by Chrisahend:
Thanks for the information.
I bought a camerascope viewer last week but it has not arrived yet. It was cheaper to buy it from the UK where they are a little more common.

I've the complete set but never bought a viewer.