Card of the Day: Christopher Columbus 1924 Ogden’s Cigarettes Leaders Of Men #8

Flashback Product of the Week: 1931 Ogden’s Racing Pigeons

Doping scandals aren’t anything new.  Not a day goes by that you don’t see a report talking about how some star athlete violated the rules by taking a banded substance.  Its very common in today’s world of sports.  One story though caught my eye a few days ago that made me laugh.  Apparently people have been doping their racing pigeons with cocaine and painkillers hoping that it makes their birds perform better.  I don’t know about you, but I sure wouldn’t want to be around a bunch of cocaine addicted pigeons.  That’s a horror movie just waiting to happen.  Doping within the world of pigeon racing has been around since 2001, and people have always been trying out strange ways to lighten their pigeon’s weight so they can fly faster.  No sport is safe from cheaters.

Upon hearing this news, it got me thinking about whether or not the sport of pigeon racing has ever had a card set.  The answer is yes.  Ogden’s Cigarettes issued a 50-card set within cigarette packs in 1931.  The set features famous racing pigeons of the time.  No one card from the set is really worth more than any of the others.  The demand for pigeon racing sets sure isn’t high.  Complete sets depending on the condition can sell for $100.00 to $150.00.  Ogden’s is known for issuing some of the most colorful tobacco cards.

Pigeon racing can be an expensive sport.  A person recently purchased a racing pigeon for over $400,000.  One thing is for certain.  It doesn’t matter whether or not you “juice-up” your pigeon.  At the end of the day, they’ll always have a small pecker 🙂