The Card
This cigarette card depicts Cugnot’s traction engine, a machine with a special place in transport history. Cards like this were usually part of “early motor cars” or “transport through the ages” series. They were made to educate and entertain, offering collectors a glimpse of technological progress.
The artwork highlights the unusual front-mounted boiler and three-wheeled design, showing how different early mechanical vehicles were from later motor cars.
Card Reverse
Cugnot's Traction Engine.
The first practical horseless vehicle was the steam lorry built by Cugnot in 1763.
Its success induced the French Government to order, in 1770, a steam traction engine for the transportation of artillery, which could carry a load of 4½ tons at about 2¾ miles per hour on level ground. The traction engine has become a familiar and almost essential part of modern road locomotion.
The Subject: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
The card depicts the invention of Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a French military engineer who, in 1769, built what is widely regarded as the world’s first self-propelled road vehicle.
His steam-powered machine, called the fardier à vapeur, was built to move heavy artillery for the French Army. It replaced horse power with mechanical power.
A Curious Detail
Many stories about Cugnot’s trials say the vehicle crashed into a wall, often called the first motor accident. Whether this is completely true or not, the story became part of the legend and was often repeated in popular sources, including collectable cards like this one.
Survival of the Original Machine
One of Cugnot’s original traction engines still exists and is kept at the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, where it serves as a reminder of this early step into mechanised transport.
Quick Facts (Card + Subject)
- Subject: Cugnot’s Traction Engine
- Inventor: Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
- Date of Invention: 1769
- Card Era: Early 20th century (typical issue period)
- Power Source: Steam
- Top Speed: ~2–3 mph
- Significance: First self-propelled road vehicle
Printed Past Insight
This card is a great example of how cigarette cards did more than reflect popular culture; they also taught it. When these cards were made, the motor car was changing daily life, and looking back at Cugnot’s early steam vehicle gave people a sense of progress and perspective.
For collectors today, it offers two layers of interest: the history of transport, and the history of how that story was told.