Welcome to another week! And what a week it has been, with the end result being that we have a new form of newsletter on a newly redesigned website. Do let us know what you think...
So is anyone in the car park in Salisbury yet? Its just a few hours, so I bet some of you are already making sandwiches and finding flasks. Don’t forget there will only be vending machines on site to supply food, but there is a Waitrose not too far away and don’t forget to pick up a copy of their free weekly “Weekend” newspaper. If you like it, as I do, it is always available to read online starting weekly on Thursdays.
We hope you will stay in touch with us all through the weekend showing us what you are buying, bartering and selling by using the tag @Card_World and the hashtag #cartophily - and if you don’t have twitter, that`s ok, just email webmaster@card-world.co.uk as we will be running a visitors experiences book throughout the weekend – and Twitterers are welcome to post on that too.
By the way, if you buy anything really spectacular then why not consider uploading it to our forthcoming museum of cartophilic curiosities? More details about this will follow in due course.
Now all this talk of Twitter and e-mail is fine but what about the postal service, especially as Saturday 9 October will be World Post Day. These days few people seem to post letters which is a great shame because this annual event highlights the fact that worldwide postal systems do many things for us. Would you believe that The Universal Postal Union was actually founded in Switzerland on 9 October 1874 ? It was the 1969 UPU Congress in Tokyo which marked the event by making that day into World Post Day. You can read more about the day at https://www.un.org/en/observances/world-post-day
The origins of the pillar box appears at https://trollopesociety.org/trollope/post-office-career/pillar-boxes/ Oddly, they dont appear on cards as much as you may think. C560-480 [tobacco : UK] Wm. Clarke & Son`s "Royal Mail" has one, (and if you can`t find that set, the same cards were issued as O100-452 by Ogdens) and a Royal Mail Van and Post Box appear in M699-470 [tobacco : UK] J Millhoff "Things To Make" (1935). However, we had an email from someone recently who actually produces trade cards in standard size, and two of their sets are on postboxes, series 1 being of the free-standing pillar boxes and series 2 being the type which are inset into walls. We feature these as our image, with many thanks. These are very attractive sets, in colour, each of twenty cards - so far twelve have been produced, the others being Buses, Lorries sets 1 & 2, Seaside Piers, Shelters, Ships, Telephone Boxes, Town Signs, and Trains sets 1 & 2. You can see those at https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/anthonymarks/m.html?item=284449176176&hash=item423a7dfa70%3Ag%3AZ%7EIAAOSwfixhBFA8&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 This same maker also made a range of cricket cards some years ago which are now very collectable but out of print.
A rather odd day, but its National Hug A Drummer Day on October 10th. I dont remember writing about drums before but there are many cartophilic links to these very impressive instruments. Lets start with Player`s “Drumhead” Cigarettes, as seen on https://www.pinterest.com/pin/757519599804643836/
and American Tobacco “Drum” Cigarettes https://khristore.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/khristore-angers-DRUM-Cigarette-Pack-T206-HONUS-WAGNER-1910-Baseball-Card-Tobacco-REPLICA-2-1536x1152.jpg which did indeed contain cards – look at https://www.gfg.com/baseball/drumbuying.jpg To say nothing of the fact that a round tin of cigarettes or tobacco was called a “drum”. One of the most attractive sets is shown above, that is “Drum Horses”, and it was issued in 1909 by W.D. & H.O. Wills. The first mention of it is in the original Wills checklists where it carried the code W/192. It appears twice in our World Tobacco Issues Index, as W675-494, which was issued in India with their "Scissors" brand and as W675-528, which was issued in the Channel Islands with "United Services" brand, though both these brands were also issued universally through British garrisons. There is a further variant to the "Scissors" set as reference books say you can find the back design either vertically or horizontally. I dont think that the pattern would fit vertically so it must be a different design. If anyone has one do send us a scan and I will change the block. Actually you can see more than one card of this set at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/search/index?filters%5Broot-collection%5D=b50ab6f0-c52b-012f-5986-58d385a7bc34&keywords=drum# You can also find cards which show the material which hung from the drum in P644-194 [tobacco : UK] John Player “Drum Banners & Cap Badges” (1924) and M757-620 [tobacco : UK] will bring you to those curious folding cards by Stephen Mitchell entitled “A Model Army” (1932) which contains a Drum & Fife Band at card 22/30. Another one is E265-640 [tobacco : UK] Edwards, Ringer & Bigg "Musical Instruments" 7/25, (the set was also issued as C504-595 by W.A. & A.C. Churchman) and this is a card that many military enthusiasts may not have seen before as though it shows a “Side Drum” the drummer is in uniform; and in fact there are a few military uniforms in this set. More recently the drum has been a vital part of pop and rock music – check out bubble gum cards by Topps "The Beatles" (1964) for Ringo Starr #28 and A & BC "Rolling Stones" (1965) for Charlie Watts #17. And ephemera collectors are well catered for by the advertising material issued by Drummer Dyes!
On the 11th of October 1937 Sir Bobby Charlton CBE was born. In his playing and managing career he won over 100 caps and also took part in the game of all games the 1966 World Cup. You can read more about him at https://www.ourbiography.com/bobby-charlton/
According to https://www.tcdb.com/Person.cfm/pid/23895/col/1/yea/0/Sir-Bobby-Charlton?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand= he appears on 322 cards starting with 1958 Cadet Sweets Footballers #25 Bobby Charlton and 1958 Master Vending Cardmaster Football Tips #5 Bobby Charlton, as drawn by Paul Trevillion. I'm not sure which actually came first and it does not help that the Master Vending set is backed by hints and tips on how to play the game, rather than biographical details. If you are a fan of these cards, note that Paul Trevillion writes for “The Card Scene” magazine, and also maintains his own website at https://www.paultrevillion.com/
Our cards are
The Footballer Magazine "Hall of Fame" first series 23/24
Comet Sweets "Footballers and Club Colours" (1963) 26/50
This is “Finding Ada Day”. The "Ada" is often referred to as Ada Lovelace, though this is not her real name. She was born The Hon. Augusta Ada Byron on December 10th 1815, and became Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace. She was also the first computer programmer, as during her work with Charles Babbage on his mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine, she realised that the machine could do other things than just work with numbers and published the first ever “algorithm”. As far as why this date was chosen, nobody seems to know. But you can read about her at
https://findingada.com/about/who-was-ada/
Despite the fact that computers started so early, they did not feature on many cards. Churchman Modern Wonders shows a super calculating machine as 45/48 and Tom Thumb "Wonders of the Modern World" has computer graphics, something Ada never dreamed of, as card 30. You will also find many computers on trading cards of science fiction films, some of them look rather dated now though!
Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day. A bit of fun here, and do let us know if you do; pictures as well if you like. Apparently it is also Take Your Teddy Bear to School Day, something which probably goes down well with under twelves and High Schoolers, but is almost certainly not so popular with cool teens. https://www.nonstopcelebrations.com/days/in-october/celebrate-take-your-teddy-bear-to-work-day-every-october-11/ is an exhaustive site and also tells the story of the teddy bear. The only card I have found of an actual teddy bear is W675-165 [tobacco : UK] W.D. & H.O. Wills "Do You Know" third series (1928) card number 7. Look at the base of the tree. There is also a toy train there, which railway enthusiasts may not have spotted. And a dolls house, which reminds me of the time I came home from auction with thirty of them which were too cheap not to pick up. But they all sold in the end! And if you know more teddy bears on cards, do let us know.
The Second Thursday of October is World Sight Day, which raises awareness about the fact that a lot of forms of vision impairment and blindness have simple causes and are treatable, if caught early enough. On which note if you have eye glasses that you no longer wear, even broken ones, do donate them, but not to charity shops as they are hard to resell. Check out https://www.reducereuserecycle.co.uk/where_can_I_recycle/glasses.php instead.
It is also Spider Man Day, which is very apt because Spider Man`s human form, Peter Parker, wears glasses, in fact as the original story tells us, he had to wear them until the fateful day he was bitten by the spider, and once bitten he no longer needed them. https://www.cardboardconnection.com/spider-man-trading-cards is a great starting place to read about Spider Man cards. Strange to say the character only appeared in 1962, which makes him the same age as The Incredible Hulk, but quite a young superhero compared to Batman (1939)
Today is I Love Lucy Day. Now Lucille Desiree Ball was born on August 6, 1911 in New York. Her first film is said to be "Roman Scandals" in 1933, with Eddie Cantor (she was one of The Goldwyn Girls) but there are rumours that she was briefly on screen before that. In 1940 she met a slightly younger man who was an actor and also a musician, his name was Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha III - but he used Desi Arnaz. They were married that November. In 1948 she appeared in a radio play, she was the wife of a banker, who seemed to have very crazy ideas but always ended up coming out good. Two years later the play was somehow mooted as a TV series, as it had been very popular, and she was offered the leading role. She agreed, but with one request, that her husband played her husband. A short time later they managed to convince the studio to give them creative control, the rights, their own studio (DesiLu) and to rename the show as "I Love Lucy". The first episode aired on October 15, 1951, It was one of the most successful shows of all time, and is still repeated all over the globe. The duo divorced in 1960 and he died in 1986. She died in 1989.
According to https://www.tcdb.com/Person.cfm/pid/42289/col/1/yea/0/Lucille-Ball?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand= there are 158 cards of her to collect! But she was also often featured in advertising for Philip Morris Cigarettes, check out : https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/445926800575916033/ and keep an eye out at markets!
This week's Cards of the Day...
Saturday, 2nd October 2021
Saturday's clue referred simply to Russia, which was the first country in Space, sent the first man into space (Yuri Gagarin) and also sent the first woman (Valentina Tereshkova). The simple truth is that it was not for Russia, we may never have blasted off into space, for what was known as The Space Race was entirely caused by President Kennedy trying to beat them and claim the honour for America - if there had been no opponent, there would have been no race, and things would probably have meandered along until the entire plan was abandoned. But having a race was infectious, and you can see that on cards, how space starts appearing at the end of cards for aviation and speed, and then for entire sets.
Sunday, 3rd October 2021
Sunday's clue was the set title, “Star Girl”, a term which could cover all female cosmonauts and astronauts. I find these most attractive cards, with the astronomical backdrop and the gilt edged star.
All 25 cards were all illustrated as figure 30, item number H.30, on page 15 of the 1950 London Cigarette Card Company Handbook of British Cigarette Card Issues, Volume One 1888-1919, compiled by Charles Lane Bagnall. In case you are wondering why, this set was also issued by several British cigarette and tobacco companies, though these sets are all catalogued under the title of simply "Star Girls". These were B046-800 A.Baker & Co. 1898 (odds were on sale from 25/- to 75/-), B381-600 Jas. Biggs & Sons 1900 (30/- to 90/-), H192-700 W.J. Harris or Harris & Sons 1899 (60/- to 150/-), P891-800 Pritchard & Burton 1900 (80/- to 240/-), and twice in 1899 by Salmon & Gluckstein as S041-400 (a "red" or pinkish red backed version with the company name in small lettering at 100/- to 300/-, and a "brown" or reddish-brown backed version with the company name in capital letters and of a different setting at 80/- to 240/-). All the above issuers were based in London. Then it was also issued by H766-350 Hudden & Co. Ltd of Bristol 1900 (no cards in stock), L645-800 H.C. Lloyd of Exeter 1899 (in the wonderfully named "Tipsy Loo" brand - 50/- to 140/-), and M958-170 B. Muratti & Co. Ltd of Manchester and London 1899 (40/- to 120/-). There is also an anonymous, plain backed version which is usually regarded to have been issued by a British company.
The set was then issued overseas, slightly later, in 1903 by British American Tobacco (with the "green net" back design), and this is also catalogued as "Beauties - Star Girls".
In our 2003 "British Tobacco Issues Handbook" the set is still H.30, and the block figure 30, but on page 22. Our knowledge had increased though, the set had been discovered as F756-200 issued in 1901 by Franklyn Davey, whilst the Harris cards were now thought to be vari-backed with six variations ("All Gay" Virginia Tobacco "Packets only..." and "Sold everywhere..." / "American Blend Tobacco, either vertical or horizontal format / "Super Navy Cut" "Cigarettes" or 'Mild"), and the Lloyd set is further described to be plain backed with the brand on the front, either all in capitals, or in upper and lower case. Overseas, the American Tobacco cards had been found in the "green net" back design, and three cards had been found by a new issuer, Grande Fabrica de Cigarros de Henrique Bastos & Cia of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. These had the captions in Portuguese and are referenced as B157-700
Monday, 4th October 2021
Monday's clue was “Mars” to celebrate Helen Patricia Sharman, CMG, OBE, HonFRSC, who was not only the first British woman in space but also the first woman on the MIR International Space Station – and she worked at the Mars Confectionery Company! And it all started because she listened to the radio!
You can read about that, and about her at https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/who-was-first-woman-space
Dick Powell had a lengthy career in all genres of motion pictures, including musicals, and he was the first actor to play Raymond Chandler`s Philip Marlowe on screen, in "Murder, My Sweet", an adaptation of ‘Farewell, My Lovely. He also appeared in a film called "To the Ends of the Earth" - which suits our theme, but it was a crime story!
Tuesday, 5th October 2021
Jules Gabriel Verne was fascinated by exploration and his dreams were not far from the truth. In 1865, when he wrote "From The Earth to The Moon", he included many things that became realities, even a spacecraft that gets its power direct from the sun. The book was so popular that it had a sequel, called "All Around the Moon". In 1902, a short fifteen minute film, directed by Georges Melies, was made in France. This mixture of animation and live actions, was called "Le Voyage dans la Lune", and it features probably the earliest women on the moon, who somehow manage to explore it in a simple stage costume and tights, without any form of artificial breathing apparatus. Melies said the film was based on many ideas including the Jules Verne novels, and you can clearly see the "shell" shape if you watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNAHcMMOHE8 Jules Verne named this shell craft the "Columbiad", and the "Columbia" was not only the command module of Apollo 11, but one of the space shuttles. However after the disaster which befell that it is unlikely the name will resurface.
You can see several cards of Jules Verne at : http://www.julesverne.ca/jvcigar.html - this fascinating site also features cigar bands and matchbooks. He also appears on a woven silk which can be viewed at : https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/760174052/vintage-woven-cigarette-and-tobacco-silk?show_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details
whilst a range of more modern Allen and Ginter variety printings can be found at : https://www.tcdb.com/Person.cfm/pid/66523/col/1/yea/0/Jules-Verne?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand=
Wednesday, 6th October 2021
There is a link between Sputnik 1 and the first woman in space as they both started their flights from Baikonur in Kazakhstan (in 1957 and 1963 respectively) .
Sputnik I appears on several cards : the earliest is 1957 Topps "Space", and it is so early that rumour has it the picture came from a leaked document. The name of the craft on the card also contains an error, it says it is Sputnik I (a roman numeral not a number). This had been corrected by the next year, when our card was issued - the first card in the set also shows it. The first British card of it is Lyons Tea "Space Exploration" (1963) Card 5. Brooke Bond "Race into Space" thought to be the first, was not issued until 1974. The confusion may have arisen because Brooke Bond Canada featured it in their 1969 set "The Space Age".
Thursday, 7th October 2021
As we have a new website let us celebrate by showing you the original New Issues Report from "Cartophilic Notes & News" Volume 9, No.105, November/December 1981 (page 3006).
Other cards cited in this report were: Anonymous (Topps Gum) "The Empire Strikes Back" (cards numbered 67-88 : so the second series) - Brooke Bond Oxo Ltd "Small Wonders" - IPC Magazines Ltd (Shoot Periodical) "Top 20 Strikers", Prescott Pickup & Co. Ltd "The Royal Wedding" postcards, and "The Prince of Wales In Uniform" - Whitbread & Co. Ltd "Inn Sign Stickers" (a thin paper issue) - and two inserts by Benson & Hedges Ltd, one being a 4p off in red and yellow and the other offering a £1 bonus in return for collecting 15 Silk Cut coupons
The first two women into space were both Russian. The third was the first American woman, and she went via the Space Shuttle. Her name was Sally Ride - check out https://www.tcdb.com/Person.cfm/pid/42852/col/1/yea/0/Sally-Ride?sTeam=&sCardNum=&sNote=&sSetName=&sBrand= The first woman commander on the Space Shuttle was Eileen Collins, on the STS-93 in July 1999 and the STS 114 in July 2005. Pamela Melroy was the second commander on the STS-120 in October 2007 and there is a 2012 Panini card of her at https://www.autographwarehouse.com/eileencollinstradingcardfirstfemalespaceshuttlecommander2012paniniamericana9.aspx
Friday, 8th October 2021
This is MIR, the International Space Station, which was designed to prove that all nations could co-exist in space together. It is not known how these cards were issued, one theory is that they were available at the various N.A.S.A. tour centres and information booths. is there anyone out there who can confirm this. Mir was actually assembled in space from modules, a lengthy task which took ten years, starting in 1986. Once completed it was in orbit from 1986 to 2001, with The Soviet Union/Russia being in overall control and other nations coming in to take part in missions and experiments. You can read the full story at https://www.history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/mir/mir.htm
well as they say, things can only get better! Its been fun learning how to work this site, and many thanks to my ever patient teachers! pop back Monday and everything will be in place with all the reference codes....
And one day it will again look like last week`s - which is at
https://csgb.co.uk/publications/newsletter/2021-10-03
To bed now! You have a Convention to get to in the morning......