In the late 1880s, cigarette manufacturers began inserting stiffening cards into cigarette packs to strengthen the paper container. Later on they decided to put artwork, famous people, pretty girls, and trivia onto those cards, making them into a collectible series.
Production of these stiffening cigarette cards continued until the 1940s and are highly valuable today. The most expensive one was sold for $2.8 million in 2007. It was a card bearing the face of Honus Wagner, an anti-smoking baseball player.
In the 1910s, Gallaher Ltd of Belfast & London and Ogden's Branch of the Imperial Tobacco Co printed "How-To" series onto the cards, providing clever hints on how to handle many of life's problems - from steaming out a splinter to making an emergency water filter.
Here are some of those 100-year-old lifehacks printed onto vintage, and definitely valuable cards.
1. How to make a fire extinguisher

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2. How to extract a splinter

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3. How to preserve eggs

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4. How to fell a tree

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5. How to stop a mad dog

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6. How to keep plants watered while away on vacation

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7. How to light a match in the wind

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8. How to make a chair to cross a stream

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9. How to rescue someone from electric shock

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10. How to make an emergency water filter

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