Civil War News
Civil War News was a successful, if controversial, trading card series that first appeared in 1962 during the Civil War centennial celebrations. There were 88 cards in the set, in addition to facsimile Confederate dollars inserted one to a pack.
The front of each card features a piece of color artwork rendered by artist Norman Saunders. The back is a fashioned after a period newspaper page, with a headline and text. Many of the incidents recounted on Civil War News cardbacks were fabricated.
Widely collected and valued among collectors (aside from some bulk warehouse finds of cards in mint condition), the Civil War News cards were originally rejected by parents for their portrayals of violence (despite the cards' perceived educational value). This set was somewhat mild, of course, compared to the Mars Attacks set which would come shortly thereafter (by the same publisher and artist).