Ogdens started as a small tobacconist in Liverpool in 1860, but by 1890 had become one of the biggest tobacco companies in Britain.

They hold the distinction of issuing the first ever set of cigarette cards in the UK in 1894 and in 1906 produced a landmark set of 51 cards called Football Club Colours. This set a trend that other companies copied of featuring a colour portrait of a notable player from each club. Both football codes were featured - the distinction between soccer and rugby not coming until several years later.

When James Duke took control of Ogdens in 1901 (having already taken over most American tobacco companies) many of the 150 British tobacco companies formed a large umbrella group called Imperial Tobacco Company, which prevented any further takeovers.

Ogdens produced some excellent sets, which give a real flavour of the times both in the pictures and the text on the back.

Ogdens produced a caricature set in the 1930s drawn by 'Mac' before returning to colour portraits. Like many companies, Ogdens stopped producing cards after the war due to paper shortages, and stopped producing cigarettes altogether in 1962.