Eye Candy: A601 - 1960 Kabaya Caramel Sumo Wrestling Cards

Japanese candy/gum cards were quite popular back in the 1950s and 1960s and were used as marketing ploys to help entice the young ones to spend their hard-earned yen on the treats and prizes.  Sumo was at a peak in popularity during this time, but there were few types of cards to market the wrestlers.  Menko was past its heyday and bromides were quickly becoming a thing of the past.  Candy and gum cards had a short burst of energy in the late 1950s and early 1960s which happend to capture these current wrestlers of the day.  These paper-thin cards are extremely hard to find and very rarely come up for auction.  I can't imagine there are many still out there as the thin paper is easily damaged and many were likely thrown out by uninspired collectors.  I have seen less than 10 of these in about 20 years lending some credence to their rarity.  These three happen to be of some of the lower-ranked wrestlers, but I can imagine any of the top wrestlers of the day would command a premium.

 

Here is a metal box that distributors would have sold to candy shops which would have contained the smaller candy boxes.

I hope everyone has a wonder Christmas!  Cheers!