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Saturday, and a new newsletter, one of the relatively few left before the closing of the year - just eleven, by my reckoning.
I have been a bit slow this week, for some reason, I had a few other problems, and then several of my first choices either turned out to not be on that date at all when researched, or I could not find any cards that showed it.
Anyway eventually this has been sorted - though I was still hunting a card this morning....
More embarrassingly, I was hunting two cards this morning, looking for another postcard for Friday - then I suddenly realised this was Friday, and I really needed a theme for next week instead.
But after all this chaos, the newsletter is more or less done, so settle back and relax, whilst our cast of characters dance before you. And this week we bring you - a Canadian Centenary, some Capitol Construction, Martial Memories, a Roman Writer, a Literary Lady,a Freak Flood, and a Leaping Legend.
So let us start with .....
Topps [trade : bubble gum : O/S - USA] Hockey (1971-2) 100/132
Lets start with your Canadian Centenary, which is the founding of the Boston Bruins, today in 1924. This makes them the third oldest team in the N.H.L. which is the National Hockey League, but that is actually ice hockey, played on a rink. And, as I am sure you are wondering, the two older teams are the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs, both founded in 1917. However there is something else special about the Boston Bruins, and that is that they are not Canadian, which technically makes them the oldest American team in the N.H.L.
They started out playing at the Boston Arena, which was built much earlier, in 1909. Then in 1928, they moved, to the Boston Garden, where they stayed for many seasons. Oddly, this was right above a train station. Our man would have also played there, for they did not leave until 1995. They did not want to move, but the stadium was being demolished, and also they had the offer of a purpose built facility, which is now known as T.G. Garden. Not sure what the initials stand for, but if you do please tell us.
Now a bit more about that founding, because it was rather a spur of the moment thing. What happened was that the Canadian National Hockey League wanted to get a bigger audience and so they offered start up franchises to American teams. There were three available, and one was bought by Charles Adams, who is sometimes called the owner of a grocery store, but it was a huge chain of stores, called First National. He did not even have a team, but he loved ice hockey and would travel to Canada to watch it. He had great ideas and money, and he used it to hire players and staff. He also named the team, after the colour of their team strip which was brown and yellow - they were actually the colours of his store uniforms as well. He probably cut a deal on both. Anyway the brown reminded him of a bear so they became the Boston Bruins.
He also arranged to host the first ever N.H.L. game to cross the border into America, and the Bruins won, against the Montreal Maroons. You won`t remember them, for they ceased to be a team in 1938.
Now as for Robert Gordon "Bobby" Orr, shown on this card, he was born in March 1948, and he is still reckoned to be one of the best players of all time. He was fast across the ice, accurate with his shooting and passing, and great back up for the other players. He was with the Boston Bruins for ten seasons, and then left, for the Chicago Blackhawks, where he only spent two seasons. And he was, at the time, the youngest player ever to join the Hockey Hall of Fame.
His "Rookie" card is universally agreed to beTopps "Hockey" which was issued in 1966. Now I have seen one of them I know where to go next time I need a television card as the border is very reminiscent of the vintage sets! Anyway, according to the Trading Card Database/BobbyOrr he appears on the quite amazing total of 3,889 cards, starting, again, with Topps "Hockey" (1966-7)
This card was issued several times. It started out as part of a set of thirty-six cards issued with "Bazooka" Gum but that version is plain backed, and it was a package issue, which ought to have a dotted line all around it. You can also get trios which must have come from larger packaging. Then it was issued as a card by O-Pee-Chee, and that looks much the same as this except, being Canadian, the back text is in French - and there are two hundred and sixty four cards in that series. I have no idea why. Again, if you know, do tell. I have a feeling it might have something to do with the fact that O-Pee-Chee is Canadian, so maybe they delved into all the teams, whereas Topps only concentrated on the majors.
We do know that the O-Pee-Chee set is minus the first six subjectswhich show top players and their statistics, namely goals, assists, scoring, goalies wingers, shutouts, and goals against the average. Some collectors think that this was a way of introducingthese players more speedily to the American market, so the audience knew which ones were the ones to watch in any games - whereas they were already well known in Canada.
Guerin Boutron [trade : chocolate : O/S - Paris France] "Le Tour du Monde en 84 Etapes" / "A Tour of the World in 84 Stages" (1900) Un/84 ?
Now lets have a chat about some Capitol Construction, for today in 1792 the first stone was laid on what would come to be known as The White House. The site was chosen in 1791 by George Washington, and it took nine years to build. Unfortunately President Washington died before that, on the 14th of December 1799. That meant that the first President to live in the house was John Adams, and he moved in on November the 1st, 1800.
The house stood for almost fourteen years, and then it was set on fire by the British, in August 1814. This was during what has become known as the War of 1812, when Major General Robert Ross defeated the American troops at the Battle of Bladensberg, then marched to the Capitol, where his men set fire to many buildings with flaming torches, fuelling the flames with the furniture and contents from their interiors. The fire was only stopped by the rain, but the Capitol was in ruins, and grey smoke hung over all.
James Hoban was the architect charged with rebuilding the White House, pretty much as it had been, and he completed it in about three years. By that time President James Monroe was in office, and he wanted changes, a portico to the south. This was done in the 1820s. As far as the matching north portico, that was added a few years later, for President Andrew Jackson.
Cigarette cards shine a light on a few other facts though. According toAmerican Tobacco Company`s "Historic Homes" series 1-50, issued with Helmar Turkish Cigarettes, there were two earlier White Houses. The first was on the Pamunkey River, and it was owned by Martha Custis, who became Martha Washington, and the first ever First Lady. Not only that, but they both lived there together for a few months after they were wed. The other one was The White House of the Confederacy which was where Jefferson Davis and his wife lived in Richmond, Virginia. You can immediately see the similarity, the pillars to the front, and the colour, of course, and some of the features described on the card, high ceilings, curved stairs, and a terraced garden. .
As for our card, this shows two children , watching a parade, and hopefully a friendly one. The boy is in green and the girl in a red dress, and this duo, or at least a girl in a red dress, appears on all the cards seen so far.
There is some confusion over the date of issue, and a lot of collectors think it was done in 1880, however the reverse of our card proves this wrong as it states that Guerin Boutron won Gold Medals at the 1889 and 1900 Exhibitions, both of these being in Paris.
There also seems to be no real connection between this set and Jules Verne`s "Around the World in 80 Days", which was published in 1872.
A & B. C. Gum [trade : gum : UK] "Kung Fu" (1974) 22/60 - AAB-460:ABF-55
So to our Martial Memories.Slightly more up to date ones though, marking the premiere, on the American Broadcasting Corporation, or ABC, of "Kung Fu", today, in 1972.
On the surface this was purely an action-adventure series, almost a Western, and maybe a slight bit of a detective story, as the premise for his wandering was to locate his half brother. However it was very well researched, and also made good use of many actual Taoist beliefs, something that probably passed over the heads of the mainly juvenile audience. It did heavily influence the star of the show though, and he not only trained in Shaolin martial arts, doing many of the fight scenes without a stunt double, he also became involved in the religion and belief system, and regularly practised the quieter martial arts of tai chi and Qigong.
The star was John Arthur Carradine Junior, who called himself David Carradine as a stage name. He had been born on December the 8th, 1936, the son of another, very famous actor, John Carradine, and had been a stage and film actor before being cast as Kwai Chang Caine. Choosing him for the part was not an entirely popular decision, for it was widely felt that it ought to have gone to a Asian actor.
After three seasons, the show ended. David Carradine was tired of the part, and also he had sustained several injuries which were proving reluctant to heal due to the heavy work load of a weekly show.However he retained a fondness for the idea of the show, and played his role again in 1986 for a television film, which he also produced. Then, in 1992, he produced and acted in another film, "Kung Fu - The Legend Continues", and that was turned into a television series which ran for five years.
Despite his success, he flouted legality in almost every way he could, building up a catalogue of arrests, prosecutions and lawsuits. He was married several times. And he died, in Thailand, aged just seventy-two, leaving behind a further mystery as to whether it was suicide, or not.
This set is another "ABC", or, one of the versions, for it was issued a few times.
It started in America, issued by Topps, with blue borders, as a test run, which some say was circulated in 1972. The blue was not popular, because when the proper set came out, in 1973, it had red borders.
This set was then reissued in England under the A. & B.C. name, and it also says "Printed in England". Now do note that some of these cards are different.
Then, in 1975, it was issued in Australia by Scanlens. We know that the Scanlens version was reprinted, and possibly in Australia, because it was on better quality card, and had white backs whereas the Topps and A. & B.C. backs were both rather grainy.
We do know that all of these issuers must have used the Topps` artwork, as they all repeated the same error on card 48 where the word "Kung Fu" does not appear on the reverse side at the top of the yellow text box. If you only have this one card, you would not know it was missing.
It first appears in our original British Trade Index part III, as :
KUNG FU. 81 x 55. Nd. (60). No.48 found with or without "Kung Fu" at top/L of back. Issued 1974. See set ZG10-6-6 in RB.30 for Australian issue. ... ABF-55
In the updated British Trade Index it appears as :
KUNG FU. 1974. 81 x 55. Nd. (60). No.48 issued a) with or b) without "Kung Fu" at top left of back. Also issued in Australia. ... AAB-460
In RB.30 the Australian version of this set is listed, with a few extra details of our version, as follows:
Set ZG10-6. Topps Series
-6. Titled "Kung Fu" on front. 88 x 64. Nd. (60). Back with sectional picture (44 numbers) or with textand illustration of a chinaman`s head, or an exercise (16 numbers). Based on Topps issue in U.S.A. Inscribed below text "T.C.G. - Prtd in U.S.A." The edition in U.K. is size 81 x 56 and inscribed below text "A. & B.C. - Prtd in U.K.
Those will have to wait until tomorrow too. But I am intrigued that the above makes it sound like a corrected card was issued, at least in England, for number 48. And if anyone has a number 48, of either version, I will happily change this picture for that !
Stollwerck [trade : chocolate : O/S - Germany] "Heroes" (1909) Gruppe 418 No.1
Our Roman Writer goesway, way back to today in 70 B.C. and the birth of Publius Vergilius Maro - who is now known as simply Virgil. He was a poet and author, who wrote many works but is chiefly remembered today for the Aenid,
This work was heavily influenced by The Iliad and The Odyssey, written by the Greek poet, Homer, many hundreds of years before Virgil was born. The Aenid tells the tale of a man called Aenas, who, after the Trojan War, tries to find a purpose for his life being spared. In the end it is not his life which turns out to be the important one, but his sons, Romulus and Remus, who go in to found the City of Rome.
Unfortunately, before finishing the work, Virgil died. He had gone to Greece in order to find inspiration, perhaps even for another part of the story. However he caught a fever, and died, on board a ship, in harbour. Now when he realised he was sickening, he left instructions that his work was, on no account, to be published; it was to be burned, unread. When these wishes were spoken of to the Emperor, he countermanded them, stating that the book was to be published, as it was. Though there were minor changes. So what we read today is probably a very different book, in many ways, to the one which Virgil intended to leave us.
This is a set of six cards, comprising :
- I - Cicero
- II - Tacitus
- III - Seneca
- IV - Ovid
- V - Virgil
- VI - Horaz
Now it seems to have many titles, some call it "Heroes", others "Orators", and the Trading Card Database (which shows all the cards) calls it "Romische Geisteshelden", which translates to Roman Spiritual Heroes - and I do not think this is a title they made up, so perhaps this came from the album ? So if anyone has one of those albums and can confirm or deny this, please do let us know.
Carreras Ltd [tobacco : UK - London] "Famous Women" C151-465 ; C18-22
This card marks the publishing of a book, today, in 1847, by an author called Currer Bell. It was called Jane Eyre, and it was an immediate success, with the general public and other authors. However Currer Bell did not exist, for it was a pseudonym for a literary lady, as seen on our card, called Charlotte Bronte.
She wastheoldest of three sisters, who liked nothing better than sitting and writing, every day, in their father`s vicarage in Yorkshire. They wrote prose, and poetry, and had paid for a collection of their poems to be published, only to meet with heartache when it sold very few copies. This too was published beneath psudonyms, Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell.
The publishing of our novel Jane Eyre was rather an accident, and a surprise. Charlotte had written another, called The Professor, almost certainly about a crush she had for one of her teachers, and sent it out for perusal by many publishing houses, none of whom were interested. Then a reader for one of these houses, whilst rejecting it, did add a few gentle words of praise. Now she could have quit whilst she was winning, but instead she packaged up a copy of her latest work, and sent him that. He loved it and told the publishers to read it too, after which an offer was made.
Jane Eyre is an odd novel, it has moments of grand romance, but drags a bit in between. It starts, as all stories, with her childhood, spent with an uncaring aunt and cousins, until she goes to school. Then she is sent as a governess to a strange place called Thornfield Hall where she falls in love with her employer Edward Fairfax Rochester, despite some very strange goings on, and much mystery. Just as they are growing close he leaves, then comes back with a party of people including a girl who she takes for his intended. So Jane goes back to help her aunt, who has suffered a stroke. After the aunt dies, Jane returns to the Hall, Mr. Rochester admits that he loves her, and asks her to marry him. This is all well underway when it is discovered that there is already a Mrs. Rochester, who lives at the Hall but is hidden away, though sometimes she escapes and causes all manner of chaos and damage. This makes it impossible for him to marry Jane, but he does ask her to run away with him to the South of France, and make out she is his wife. For some reason she says no, and runs away all on her ownsome. Then there is a very odd bit where her cousin, a clergyman, asks her to marry him instead, but at the end it all works out and she meets up with Mr. Rochester again, though he has lost his sight and one of his hands in a fire, caused by his wife, which destroyed the Hall and led to her death. Of course, back come the feelings, and the two are wed, ending up with a baby, which, by some miracle, he is able to see at least with one eye.
Sadly her own life was not so romantic.In 1853, she was thirty-seven years old, and, with both her surviving literary sisters and her brother dead, all through tuberculosis, she was stuck at home with her elderly father and a couple of servants. However, her father`s assistant in the church had taken a bit of a shine to her, and they used to walk the family dogs together. He was three years younger than her, and she was rather aghast when he asked for her hand, so he left, supposedly to emigrate to Australia, but actually only going to another church, from where he continued to petition her to agree. In the end she did, and the two were wed in 1854, though her father did not attend, he said he felt ill.
Once they were wed, she admitted that she did start to fall in love with him, and soon she was pregnant. However she was never to see her child. She died, apparently of morning sickness, in March 1855. Her husband then took over the job of caring for her father, until his death, perhaps hoping to stay on as the minister of the church. This was not to be, for the trustees of the church voted against it, and he resigned in a fit of anger, putting the goods and chattels of the parsonage up for auction in 1861, though he kept the letters, manuscripts, and personal effects, and took them back to Ireland. He married again in 1864, and died, of bronchitis,in December 1906.
This set is catalogued in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes quite simply as :
FAMOUS WOMEN. Sm. Nd. (27)
However it is under section 2.D, which covers "General Export Issues. All black and white glossy photos, unless stated".
The cards do say "A Series of 27 Real Photos", but some of them are photos of paintings, due to the subject on that card being long departed. Only cards 14 (Rosa Bonheur), 22 (Lily Langtry), and 23 (Ellen Terry) are actual photographs of the person.
Our image is from a painting, in chalk, by George Richmond, and it wasdone on the 13thof June, 1850. It is currently held by the National Portrait Gallery, who was given it by her widower, either just before he died, or as a bequest thereafter. That fact is not recorded.
It appears that this image, reversed, is also on a Guinea Gold card. The same image, but colourised, was used on another Carreras set, "Celebrities of British History" (1935 - card 49), and as card 40 of their later "Turf" set of the same name.
Gallaher Ltd [tobacco : UK - Belfast & London] "British Naval Series" (1914) 22/50 - G075-140:G12-16
This, the most curious tale of a Freak Flood, is also the tale of this man. But let us start with the flood, which started today in 1814. Freakier still, it was not water, but beer.
Today it is known as either the London Beer Flood or the Meux Beer Flood, for it started atMeux & Co's Horse-Shoe Brewery, by accident, when one of the vats of porter burst. Now this vat was twenty-two feet tall and full of fermenting, frothing, angry liquid, and the stream, as it issued forth, managed to knock out the valve of another vat. In all several of the vats were damaged, and it is estimated that almost six hundred gallons of liquid were suddenly released. This tidal wave was so forceful that it demolished the back wall of the brewery, and into the dwellings behind, killing eight people, three of them under the age of five.
There was a coroners inquest, but this ruled that the event had been accidental, and no claim could be laid nor compensation awarded. However the brewery did suffer, a bit, with the loss of the beer, and its future income, though they were awarded a rebate from the Tax Office on the value of the beer.
The incident did start a trend throughout the brewing industry though, and slowly moved them away from using the largewooden vats which were pretty universal at the time.
So to our man, Admiral Hon. Sir Hedworth Meux, who would rise to be Admiral of the Fleet, The Honourable Sir Hedworth Meux, Knight Grand Cross Order of the Bath, Knights Cross of the Royal Victorian Order. He was born in 1856, but as Hedworth Lambton, the son of the 2nd Earl of Durham. He joined the Royal Navy young, as a cadet in the training ship H.M.S. Britannia, aged just fourteen. The following year he was aboard HMS Endymion, as part of the squadron which patrolled the English Channel, and was soon promoted to Midshipman, moving to the flagship of the squad HMS Agincourt.
After this he moved to the Mediterranean Fleet, just in time for the Anglo-Egyptian War. By that time he was on HMS Invincible. In 1883 he was made Commander, but also sent to the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. This honed his already considerable sea-skills, and almost certainly led him to becoming the Commanding Officer of the Royal Yacht HMY Osborne in 1888. It was also where he met Earl Spencer, who took him on initially as aide de camp, and then, when the Earl was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1894, made him his Private Naval Secretary, a role he continued even after a new man, Viscount Goschen, took over at the helm.
This did not work out too well, and our man found a new role, as Commanding Officer of HMS Powerful, which was, at that time, based in China. On the ship`s way back to England, in 1899, it was ordered to South Africa, to aid in the Second Boer War. On the way it picked up some naval cannons which were eventually used at the Relief of Ladysmith, as well as some of the crew from his ship. This action led him to being awarded as a Companion of the Order of the Bath, but, more importantly than that, at least to our story, to his meeting Valerie, Lady Meux. She had been inspired by our man`s action to pay for some more guns to be made and transported to South Africa. She also asked to meet the man responsible. When they met, he seemed to think little of it, but when she died, in December 1910, he discovered that she had left him not only her mansion, but all her money, and the remaining money of her husband, which were considerable and most of which resulted from his family brewery, Meux`s of London (and of flood infamy). The reason for this was that her and her husband had no heirs. The only condition was that he change his name, immediately, from Lambton to Meux, which he did, by Royal Warrant, therefore inheriting the Hertfordshire Estate known as Theobalds, and a large portion of the ownership of the brewery.
The important card to this mystery is Carreras` "Famous Naval Men", card 15/24, where the first few lines say "Served at the Bombardment of Alexandria, and was in command of the Naval Brigade at the Relief of Ladysmith. Changed his name from Lambton on inheriting a fortune from Lady Meux".It also tells you that after this he "...Became Admiral of the Fleet in 1915, but retired and entered Parliament as member for Portsmouth in 1916. Retired from political life in 1918." There are five cards of him in total in the Jefferson Burdick collection at the New York Public Library.
I have not been able to find any cards of him as Hedworth Lambton, but looking at his war record I am certain that they are out there, just that nobody has tied this tale together before. So if you have one, please let us know.
Now this card first appears in our original Gallaher reference book, RB.4, published in 1944. In there it is listed as :
1914. 50 BRITISH NAVAL SERIES (titled series). Size 2-1/2" x 1-1/2" approx. Numbered 1-50. Fronts, printed two colours - brown and grey, by letterpress, from screen blocks. Brown marginal lines, and grey margins. Titles inset in white panels. Backs, printed in brown, with descriptions, and "Issued by Gallaher Ltd,., Belfast & London". Printed by Tillotsons Ltd., Bolton
The Gallaher book never had reference numbers to each set, that system being only added with the later volumes.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, it has been reduced, to simply :
BRITISH NAVAL SERIES. Sm. Mauve. Nd. (50.) ... G12-16
This exact text appears in the updated volume, but with a new code, of G075-140
The Nestle Company [trade : confectionery : O/S - Australia] "The Olympic Games 1948-1972" (1972) 1/24 - NE4-8
And to close, our Leaping Legend, Robert "Bob" Beamon. He was born on August the 29th, 1946, and remains best remembered for his massive leap of twenty-nine feet and 2-1/4 inches (that is almost nine metres). This was accomplished at the Olympic Games in Mexico City in 1968. It was only beaten by Mike Powell, a fellow American, who jumped just two inches further, and beat the world record, though, as this was not at the Olympics, Mr. Beamon retains the Olympic record to this day. Strangely Mr. Powell`s jump was just one day after "Bob" Beamon`s birthday - on August the 30th, 1991. And that remains the longest jump ever - by a human being, for the flea beats this hands down, being able to jump over eight inches, which is two hundred times their own length.
It has sometimes been quoted that Mr. Beamon was born in South Jamaica. This is true, but South Jamaica is a district in Queens, New York. His mother died when he was only eight months old and he went to live with her mother. His talent for running was picked up at school, and he may have gone straight to a sports college, if it were not for the fact that he chose to stay with his sick grandmother. However, once she died, he was able to change colleges and accept a track and field scholarship at the University of Texas.
I write a lot about people going off to college. Sorry. It was something I always wanted to do and never could. I would probably not have been bright enough, and they would have laughed me out after the first day. I am no more intelligent now, and too old to consider it, but the idea remains inside of me, and is awakened, often, as I write these newsletters.
He was a man of principle, too, losing his place on that college team for standing true to his feelings, and boycotting a contest because of them. Ten other men stood tall too. Therefore at the time he entered the 1968 Summer Olympics he was pretty much solo. However he had won all but one event in the year prior, including a massive jump of twenty-seven and a half feet, which was disallowed, supposedly through wind assistance.
At the Olympics, he took the World Record with his first jump. Afterwards he was picked up to play basketball, for the Phoenix Suns, but he never played in a league game. He also seems to have gone to Adelphi University, for he graduated with a sociology degree. Later, in 1977, he became a coach in San Diego.
The Trading Card Database/Beamon has him on 103 cards, starting in 1969. However this set is not amongst them. I imagine there are others, too, which are not. And that total also includes several of those large thin cards which were intended to go in a filing box, which some of us do not really consider cartophilic.
Anyway, this is a slightly different code to the usual, because it comes from our original Australian and New Zealand Index, published in 1983. It seems odd that this set was only issued in the Antipodes, especially with the Hamlyn connection, but I can find no other trace of it.
The entry in that book reads :
The Olympic Games 1948-1972. 61 x 58. Nd. (24). Issued 1972. Book "The Olympic Games 1948-1972", 96 pages, available for $1.15. Issued in conjunction with Set NE4-5 ... NE4-8
A quick look up the page finds NE4-5, listed as :
Milo Cards. 57 x 30, on thick paper. Issued in strips. Nd. (24).Book "The Olympic Games 1948-1972". Issued 1972 with set NE4-8 ... NE4-5
This week's Cards of the Day...
...have seen us joining in with International Postcard Week, which actually started Sunday, but will go on until this coming Saturday - lots of time to get involved.
It is always the first full week of October, so do make a note of that in your diaries and on your calendars. There are a couple of other allied events at this time of year too -World Postcard Day, which was on October 1st and World Post Day on October 9th.
And for all our readers on Social Media, the hashtag is #InternationalPostcardWeek
We are going to use it as an excuse to show you some postcards which were issued with cigarettes and tobacco - and which we seldom feature.
Saturday, 5th October 2024
J. Lyons & Co. [trade : ice cream : UK] "International Footballers" (1971) 16/40 - LYO-280 : LYO-48
Here we have Bobby Moore, one of our best loved England team players, and that, along with the title of the set, provided us with the word "International"
J. Lyons had their fingers in many pies, tea, cocoa, and ice cream, which was how this set was issued - with Lyons Maid. However it does seem that the ice cream was in fact ice lollies. This is backed up by the wrappers, which show the details of some of the special offers that the coupons off the cards would entitle you to. It also seems that the cards were not packed inside of the lolly wrappers, but handed out at the shops, or off the ice cream trucks, after you had made your purchase.
Now these cards were the follow up to another Lyons Maid set "Soccer Stars", which had been issued the year before. However our cards were not so popular at the time, for some reason, and you could still find them being given out well into 1972. It was also the last football set that Lyons issued with ice lollies.
We do not know why they were less well received, but there are lots of theories, including the truth that in those days you seldom saw the international matches, Sky television only started in 1989, and not long afterwards, the internet, but as dial up, and a rarity in people`s homes. Whereas today we can watch as many international games as we can home grown ones.
Now because of this, some cards are quite sought after, especially overseas, where few ever filtered across. Top of the list is Johann Cruyff of Holland (card 18) and Eusebio of Portugal (card 28), who can each sell for getting on for £20, though in their home countries, amongst local fans, this is often far exceeded. Just below that is our card of Bobby Moore, plus George Best (card 25) and Bobby Charlton (card 13) which are usually about £10 each.
The set is catalogued in our original British Trade Index part III as :
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALLERS. Nd. (40) ... LYO-48.
It also manages to be squeezed into our updated British Trade Index, though the cut off date for that is 1970. There, it appears as :
INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALLERS. 1971. "Lyons Maid". 76 x 36. Nd. (40) ... LYO-280
Sunday, 6th October 2024
Godfrey Phillips [tobacco : UK] "Our Puppies" - postcard size (1936) 6/30 - P521-468.B : P50-120.B : Ph/113 [RB.13/113]
There were two clues here - the first was the fact that these are "French" Bulldogs - whilst the second was that the card has a postcard back.
This set is described in our original Godfrey Phillips reference book (RB.13, published in 1949) as :
113. 50. "OUR PUPPIES". Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in black, with descriptive text. Issued 1936, in two sizes :-
A. Medium cards, size 60 x 53 m/m
B. Post card size, 128 x 89 m/m.
Now in our World Tobacco Issues Index, the entry reads :
"OUR PUPPIES". Nd. (30) ... P50-120.
A. Medium.
B. Postcard size and format. Without series title. Puppies, back format identical with Set P50-117.C
That set is "Our Dogs", showing adult dogs. This was issued later, in 1939, and was actually available in three sizes, small (a set of 36, and yes, they are in standard cigarette card size), medium (a set of 30) and postcard (a set of 30).
The sad thing about these sets is that we do not know who the artist was. There is a signature on our set, but I cannot decipher it. And Phillips sets are spectacularly absent from every article on cigarette card artists that I have tracked down so far. However someone out there may know this name, and if so please do get in touch.
Monday, 7th October 2024
F. & J. Smith [tobacco : UK - Glasgow] "A Tour Round The World" - without series title, postcard back (1904) 4/50 - S548-440.1.A : S84-16.1.A
Here we have one of the most spectacular of all the postcard backed cigarette cards, every one a perfect, miniature, work of art.
Sadly its value has taken it out of reach of most of today`s collectors, so it is especially thrilling to be able to show you one here.
Now you may have been puzzled over the inclusion of the Coliseum, but it was International, and also it was the only one of these cards with the postcard back that I could track down - apart from St. Paul`s Cathedral, which did not fit the International theme.
This is a complex set, in three different parts, which appears in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
A TOUR ROUND THE WORLD. Sm. Nd.... S84-16
1. Without Series Title (50). Vari-backed, 12 wordings - see C.C.N. Vol.21, page 67.
A. Back in postcard format, without I.T.C Clause. Numbered front only.
B. Back with handwritten advertisements, with I.T.C Clause. Numbered front and back.2. With Series Title (50). See H.75 and Ha.75. Multi-backed in brown, 10 wordings.
A. Cut Navy Tobacco.
B. Glasgow Mixture Cigarettes
C. Glasgow Mixture Tobacco
D. Goodwill Virginia
E. Harvest Moon Cigarettes
F. Regimental Cigarettes
G. Studio Cigarettes
H. Sun Cured Cigarettes
I. Sun Cured Mixture
J. Wild Geranium Cigarettes
It is catalogued in a very similar way in the updated version, with a new code, but without the mention of the C.C.N. (which is the "Cigarette Card News" magazine.)
So before we speed on, the two sets under section 1, without the series title, are the same set - the fronts are identical, as is the handwritten message on that card, on both of these versions.
The difference is that on our card, the message is squeezed into the left hand side of the back, as if it were written on a postcard, the right hand side being the address (in our case : "Messrs. F. & J. Smith, Tobacco Blenders, Scotland", with "Glasgow" being added in within an oval to the left hand side of the address section. The top of the card is a facsimile of an Italian postcard, "Cartolina Postale Italiana (Carte Postale D`Italie)"complete with printed stamp and postmark to the top right hand corner.
However on the other card, described above as "back with handwritten advertisements", there is no postcard marking, it just has the same message right across the whole of the back, and below that the card number, and "F. & J. Smith, Glasgow / Branch of the Imperial Tobacco Co. (of Great Britain and Ireland), Ltd."
The second group are totally different, but at the moment I have not used one as a Card of the Day, so it is easier for you and me to have it here. They are more like standard cards, with a box of descriptive text inside a regular framework - and the subjects are totally different too, our card, No.4, being replaced by the Bay of Naples, looking on to an erupting Vesuvius.
Tuesday, 8th October 2024
Godfrey Phillips [tobacco : UK] "Famous Paintings" (1938) 19/26 - P521-440 : P50-106- : Ph/69 [RB.13/69]
This one was chosen because it shows a Dutch interior scene, so in keeping with our International theme of the week - but also through it being quite a scarce set these days. Perhaps this is down to art tastes having changed, or that younger collectors are not so interested in Old Masters.
However this artist, Pieter Hendricksz de Hooch, is quite fascinating, and also rather groundbreaking, for, like here, he shows a domestic interior which would have been quite well hidden to the general public. Often he shows rooms from the view of a passer by, who has managed to find a door open and unguarded, and is stealing a qlimpse inside, curiously.
Our artist is a sketchy fellow. We know he was baptised on December the 20th, 1629, but there is not a trace of him recorded after that until he turns up in Delft in August 1652, in his mid twenties, where he had travelled in order to witness the signing of a legal document, often said to be a will. We know he had seven children, though his wife died in 1667, just thirteen years after they were wed.But we have no idea of when he died, only that he was definitely seen alive in 1683, and signed a painting the following year, though some feel the date was added in another hand.
This card contains a couple of inaccuracies. It gives the artist`s date of death as 1677, which is definitely not true. And the given title of the painting, "Interior of a Dutch House", is also incorrect - it is titled "A Woman Drinking with Two Men", or, sometimes, as "..with two Cavaliers".It was painted about 1658, and it remains in the collection of the National Galleryin London, though it is sadly not currently out on display.
The last private owner of this painting was Sir Robert Peel, the British Prime Minister, who was also a Trustee of the National Gallery. It appears that his intention was to leave themhis entire collection on his death, for the nation, but his son wanted to keep them, and also to buy more. Sadly this son then ran into financial difficulties, and was forced to put all the paintings up for sale at Christies Auction House. The National Gallery then heard of this, and they came to an arrangement where they bought the bulk of the collection, for £75,000. This does seem to have been a private deal, outside of the auction.
It is catalogued in our original Godfrey Phillips reference book, RB.13, published in 1949, as :
69. 26 FAMOUS PAINTINGS. Postcard size, 128 x 89 m/m. Series title and brief descriptive text on backs of cards Nos. 2-12 and 22, on fronts of other numbers. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour. Backs in postcard format. Home and export issue 1938. Varieties : Nos. 16 and 19 are known with numbers transposed.
However in our World Tobacco Issues Indexes it is simply :
FAMOUS PAINTINGS. Postcard size and format. Nd. (26)
Wednesday, 9th October 2024
J. Wix & Son, Ltd. [tobacco ; UK - London] "Henry" second series Ex-Lge/PC (1936) /25 - W805-060.2.B : W72-3.2.B
This card is included because it is sometimes called "postcard" in auction calatogues, and sometimes extra large. However, as you can see here, it is not a proper postcard, it has text all over the back.
It is rather borderline as to our "International" theme, though we do not know how far the man clinging desperately aboard his makeshift vessel has come.
The set is huge, five sets in all, and we have featured Henry in our newsletters before - however, as this is a Card of the Day it inherits the mantle of being the home page.
Only the first two sets were available in this size, the third, fourth and fifth were not. The description, of the entire group, from our original World Tobacco Issues Index, is :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See Ha.625. Special albums issued. ... W72-3
1. “A Series of….” Numbered.
A. Large. Back “A Series of 50”, adhesive. [in newsletter - on Wednesday 17th April 2024]
B. Extra-large. Back “A Series of 25”.
2. “2nd Series of ….” Numbered.
A. Large. Back “2nd Series of 50”. Adhesive, inscribed at base (a) “Ask for the …” (b) “Ask your tobacconist…”
B. Extra-large. Back “A 2nd Series of 25”.
3. 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. No full stop after “Copyright Reserved”
4. 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after “Copyright Reserved” [in newsletter - on Thursday 5th May 2022]
5. 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after “Copyright Reserved”
In our updated version there is a slight change to the heading, because the special albums were only for the large size cards, not the extra large ones. Therefore that reads :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See H.625. ... W805-060
1. “A Series of….” Numbered.
A. Large. Back “A Series of 50”, adhesive. B. Extra-large. Back “A Series of 25”.
2. “2nd Series of ….” Numbered.
A. Large. Back “2nd Series of 50”. Adhesive, inscribed at base (a) “Ask for the …” (b) “Ask your tobacconist…”
B. Extra-large. Back “A 2nd Series of 25”.
3. 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. Nothing after “Copyright Reserved”
4. 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after “Copyright Reserved”(except 1 card)
5. 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after “Copyright Reserved”
As far as set 4, where it says “(except 1 card)” without telling of the number thereof, fear not, for the handbook tells us it is number 32.
There is also an American version of this set, which we featured as our Card of the Day for the 11th of June, 2023
Also, more recently, selected cards were issued by a clothing company called JustHenryInternational Boys Wear.
Thursday, 10th October 2024
Muratti [tobacco] "Midget Post Card Series" M958-130.1.i : M160-11.I : H.286.1.7 : Ha.286.
This is included because if you do not look closely at the front of the card you may just think it is a Rotary postcard and nothing to do with cartophily. However, it will also show you not to be so hasty in future when you see bundles of postcards similar to this.
This is one of a complex group, which first appears in the original London Cigarette Card Company Handbook, of 1950, described as :
H.286. MIDGET POSTCARD SERIES (titled series). Large cards. Fronts photoprints. Issued by Muratti. Inscribed "Rotary Photo. E.C.", preceded by four or five figure reference number, otherwise unnumbered. Back in post-card format. Inscribed on front "Muratti`s High Class Cigarettes - Sold All Over the World". Selected subjects from a very extensive range of small sized post-cards in vogue about 1905. Size approx 90 x 70 mm.
1. Matt front, in black/sepia. 12 subjects seen
1. 7567 Collie Puppies
2. 6201 King Edward VII
3. 7560 Me and Mine
4. 680211 Sybil Arundale
5. 6826 Miss Cecile Engleheart
6. 6831 Miss Louie Freear
7. 6834 Miss Evie Green
8. 6849.B Miss Edna May
9. 6865.B Miss Marie Studholme
10. 7566 Skye Terriers
11. 7565 The Doorkeeper
12. 7554 What are You ?
Now this is followed by section II but they are glossy "English Views", plus a section of cards with reference numbers that begin "41", and other cards which have no reference numbers, but presumably mention Muratti or they would not be here. I imagine we will get around to including them one day too. By the way, the "X" reference only applies to section ii, it i the finding of another card, of Broadstairs.
In our World Tobacco Issues Index, this is shorter, and so I can include all the groups, for reference - and I do mean "all" for there is a further group I had not even noticed in the above book. This reads :
MIDGET POST CARD SERIES (A). Lg. See H.286, Ha. 286 and X1/H.286. ... M160-11
I. Matt front. Size about 90 x 70. Muratti`s name in black. Miscellaneous subjects. 12 known.
II. Glossy Front. Size about 85 x 65. Muratti`s name in red.
(i) Reference numbers commencing "40". English views, with captions. 54 known
(ii) Reference numbers commencing "41". Miscellaneous subjects with captions. 6 known
(iii) Without reference numbers. Views without captions. About 30 seen.QUEEN`S POST CARD SERIES.Lg. about 90 x 70. Muratti`s name in black. Matt photos. 36 known. See H.287 ... M160-12
A. Front in black-sepia
B. Front in reddish-brown
Now this is somewhat enlarged in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index, to :
MIDGET POST CARD SERIES (A). Lg. See H.286 ... M958-130
I. Matt front. Black photos.
(i) Size about 90 x 70. Muratti`s name in black. Miscellaneous subjects. Reference numbers between 6201 and 7567. (99 known, probably about 160 issued)
(ii) Size about 85 x 65. Muratti`s name in red. Actors and Actresses, no captions or reference numbers. (5 known)
II. Glossy front, sepia photos. Size about 85 x 65, few 75-80 x 65. Muratti`s name in red.
(i) With reference numbers and captions. (136 known)
(ii) Without reference numbers and captions. (76 known)QUEEN`S POST CARD SERIES.Lg. about 90 x 70. Muratti`s name in black. (99 known). See H.287 ... M958-150
A. Back inscribed "Queen`s Post Card", with divisions for address and communication. Front in (a) black (b)reddish-brown
B. Back inscribed "Post Card" and "Queen`s Series" at side, with space for address only. Front in black, with picture as in A., but shortened to allow space for communication.
Now postcard collector readers will know already that these last two sections are the wrong way round. This is because at one time you could only write the address on the back of a postcard not any message. This was squeezed into any space that could be found on the front. However, the British Post Office changed this, in 1902, and allowed for messages to appear on the same side as the address. This got a bit messy, so postcard companies started to print their cards with a dividing line in the middle, and then, a bit later, added headings to each section so it was less easy to confuse which was for the message and which for the address. This also came into effect in America, but not until 1907.
Therefore the postcards in B were not "shortened to allow space for communication",they were just issued with a space that was utilised, for a very brief message, by the writer. Postcards were still issued with spaces around them, or to one side, after the arrival of the divided back, and some writer still pressed them into service, for a postscript, or, curiously, a message whilst one side of the reverse was left blank.
Friday, 11th October 2024
Lipton [trade : tea : UK] "Estate Postcards" series A (1903) A6/10 ? - LIP:080
This estate is in Ceylon, and whilst it is shown on this card as Leymastotte, the records show it as Laymastotte, in Haputale, adding that it was founded in 1880. That is all I have discovered yet though.
The first of these tea estates was founded in 1867, by a Scotsman, James Taylor, and called Loolecondera.The estate had been there for some while, but growing coffee. However coffee, for many reasons, including a disease called coffee rust, was failing to grow properly, or at all, and so the proprietor, G.D.B. Harrison told one of his men to go and get some tea seeds from a local botanical gardens and sow them all along the roadsides that made up the estate. Not all of them struck, but some did. And that was how tea came to Ceylon.
Sir Thomas Johnston Lipton's first estate was bought some time later, in 1890. That was in Dambatenne. He bought other estates, but that remained his favourite, and it was where he chose to install the a very modern factory which could pack the leaves to a stated quantity, seal the boxes, and have them ready to ship right across the World.
Again if you look at the back of this card, you would not spot any reference to these being cartophilic, or to Lipton, that is only on the front. You would just take it for a standard view on a Photochrom postcard.
In our updated British Trade Index, it appears as :
LIPTON SERIES. 138 x 88. Postcard backs. Two series. Unnd. See HL-40. ... LIP-080
1. Back "Published by C.W. Faulkner & Co. Ltd. London E.C." HL40-1
2. Back "Published by the Photochrom Co. Ltd., London...." Captions as follows :
a) Captions in large black capitals in white panel
b) Captions in small white captions on picture, 1) "View on Ceylon Tea Estate", 2) "Packing Tea in Ceylon" (only No.10 in listing known).
3.Without captions (all known).
HL-40 is the Handbook, but the listing extends over two pages. I can, however, direct you to an excellentchecklist of the three series of these cards, which is part of the New Zealand Postcard Society website. That lists all the cards but assigns them numbers, whereas in our Handbook the cards are listed in alphabetical order and numbered in that order. They also list them in a different way, starting with our set, which they call "A", and following that with a "B" set that we do not list. Then they have the Faulkner cards last, as set "C".
By the way if anyone can supply them with scans of just the fronts of the ones they are missing on that list I am certain they would be very grateful.
And so there we go, powering down, and disappearing into the darkness for another week. Though a lot will be happening behind the scenes until next week`s newsletter appears.
I have not done much of the index after my promising start, but hope to resume it over the weekend, and tonight`s A. & B.C. "Kung Fu" card will be going in there as well, one of the first newsletter cards to be added. I do have to ponder on a good way of how to list that though so that it is immediately apparent that you have to scroll down to a specific date to find it, rather than just click the link and there it is.
Anyway, thank you, once more, for coming over to have a read, and also thank you for your little messages and offers of assistance, which do keep me going through the worst of times.
Until next week, then - adieu.