The 1952 Félix Potin set, also known as the fourth and final series of the “Collection Félix Potin” (or “Célébrités Contemporaines”), was issued by the French chocolate and grocery company Félix Potin as a promotional insert in their chocolate products. This post-war release was smaller than the earlier massive series, consisting of approximately 285 unnumbered, blank-backed cards. The cards are thinner and more square-shaped than previous issues, with most measuring about 1 1/2″ x 2 1/2″ (roughly 38 x 64 mm), while around 15 larger cards measure approximately 2 1/2″ x 3″.
It featured black-and-white photographic portraits of contemporary celebrities and notables from around the world, with a strong emphasis on French figures alongside international stars. Subjects spanned film and entertainment (such as Charlie Chaplin, Bette Davis, and Bing Crosby), literature and arts (including Albert Camus, Pablo Picasso, and Henri Matisse), sports (boxers, Olympic athletes, tennis players, football, and more), politics (like General Dwight D. Eisenhower), and other fields such as explorers, inventors, clergy, and royalty. Notably, the set includes four auto racing cards featuring prominent drivers of the era: Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Giuseppe Farina (the first official Formula 1 World Champion), and Louis Rosier.
Collectors could paste the cards into a dedicated album organized by categories or subsets. The set stands out for its mid-20th-century mix of glamour, culture, and athletic achievement—including early motorsport representation—in a compact, elegant format that continued the long-running Félix Potin tradition of turning everyday chocolate purchases into a hobby of building celebrity portrait collections. Today, it remains a collectible for vintage non-sports card enthusiasts, with individual cards varying in rarity and value based on the subject.
Alberto Ascari
Juan-Manuel Fangio
Guiseppe Farina
Louis Rosier