Welcome to the East Anglia Home Page
A QUICK CHAT ABOUT OUR MEETINGS
East Anglian Card Collectors Club meet at Roydon Village Hall, High Road, Roydon, Diss, Norfolk IP22 5RB. We usually meet on the third Saturday of the month, from 8.30am until 3.00pm
There is also an auction from 1 pm, which has now increased in size and contains three hundred lots each time. And we have wonderful items to come - in fact we are so full of material that we are not accepting any more. There will also be an extra special auction in May 2024. Our catalogues can be found a few weeks prior to the sale, online, at http://www.eaccc.co.uk - where you can also read our newsletters.
Our 2024 and 2025 calendar is :
| 2024 | 2025 |
| Saturday 20th January | Saturday 18th January |
| Saturday 17th February | Saturday 15th February |
| Saturday 16th March | Saturday 15th March |
| Saturday 20th April | Saturday 19th April |
| Saturday 18th May | Saturday 17th May |
| Saturday 15th June | Saturday 21st June |
| Saturday 20th July | Saturday 19th July |
| Saturday 17th August | Saturday 16th August |
| Saturday 21st September | Saturday 20th September |
| Saturday 19th October | Saturday 18th October |
| Saturday 16th November | Saturday 15th November |
| Saturday 14th December | Saturday 13th December |
A LOOK INTO OUR ARCHIVES
The first whiff of a collectors group in East Anglia appears in the Cartophilic Notes and News of July/August 1969 [Vol.3, No.28] a mention, just in passing, that Mr. Francis H. Pitts, former Honorary Secretary of London Branch, had just retired and moved to 107 Lone Barn Road, Sprowston, Norfolk. His post was taken by Roy H Wheeler, who was sworn in at the meeting of 20 May 1969.
Mr. Pitts knew that there were a number of collectors in the Norfolk area, but they seemed not to have anywhere to meet or exchange cards. According to the Cartophilic Notes and News of November/December 1969 [Vol. 3, No.30], almost as soon as he landed, he started canvassing publicity for the Society and for cards in general by appearing in the Eastern Evening News paper on the 11 August and having an interview with the B.B.C. which was later screened on East Anglia TV, and given a five minute spot in the programme “Look East”. He also spread the word closer to home, yet further, putting a request in our magazine to say that he “… would be pleased to hear from other members living in East Anglia with a view to arranging a few meetings for 1970.”
The inaugural get together is reported to have been held in “a front room of a suburban house in the wilds of Norfolk”, this was presumably at his home in Sprowston, but the first actual meeting was held in the Grafton Arms at Barnham in Suffolk on Saturday the 21st of March 1970, starting at 2.30 p.m. and finishing at 5.30 p.m. The invitation had been sent out to five friends, but somehow nine collectors attended. Full details appear in their Newsletter No.1, dated April 1970, and written by D.A. Bell (who was then based at RAF Swanton Morley, in Dereham), the newly elected Secretary. You can read that newsletter in its entirety at http://www.eaccc.co.uk/archive.htm but in case it ever disappears, the records are that they decided, in order, that a club should be formed in East Anglia to be called “The East Anglian Cigarette & Trade Card Club”, to be abbreviated to “EAC & TCC” - that membership was open to any card collector in the region - that a close liaison would be maintained with the Cartophilic Society of Great Britain- and to elect officials, namely Mr Francis H. Pitts as Chairman, Mr. D. A. Bell as Secretary, and Mr. T. R. “Ritchie” Summers of Thetford, who had found and arranged the venue, as treasurer. It was agreed to hold future meeting in May, June, and September, the next being set for 23rd May, 1970, back at the Grafton Arms, starting at 2.30 p.m., with the proviso that anyone who attended should bring some cards for display, auction, and exchange. The annual subscription was also set at 5/- to purely cover expenses, with the cost of the venue, and refreshments being shared between those present at that time. And it was decided to advertise in the Eastern Daily Press.
Page two of the newsletter has a list of those in office, plus present and intending members. Some are as yet unknown to me, whilst others leap off the page – one of these, who is later listed as “a founder member” of the club, is Mr. A. S Gooding, or Alexander Gooding, a dealer of some repute who specialised in Churchman and Ogden`s, especially Guinea Golds. One of the prospective members is simply listed as “Mr. Potter”, but the address, of 138A Thorpe Road, Norwich, gives the game away, for this is G.F. Potter. Another I spot is Mr J.H. Fowle, life member of the Cartophilic Society.
The second club newsletter, issued in June 1970, came with a form for all members to fill in any missing cards that they were hunting for. I am not sure how well the scheme did, but it may turn up later and now I have a record of when it started. The main newsletter reports on the meeting of the 23rd of May 1970, at the Grafton Arms, where it had been decided to base themselves permanently. It tells is that the club now had thirteen members, and that Mr. C.E. Griggs was thanked for indeed coming along with a selection of his collection of mounted cards to display to others present - this sounds like he was the only one who did. The next meetings were announced, to be on the 4th of July and the 10th of October; and it was also discussed that, some time in 1971, an exhibition might be held in Norwich, perhaps at the Norfolk Rooms. And finally, after the close of business, a twelve lot auction took place in which only two lots remained unsold – the total raised was £3 18s. 6d. of which 7/10d. went to club funds.
Full details of the “exhibition in Norwich” appear in the “Cartophilic Notes and News” for January/February 1973 [Vol. 5, No.49] where it is revealed to have been a display of cards in the Long Gallery of the Theatre Royal in Norwich. This ran from Monday 30th October to Saturday 11th November 1972. The article includes a breakdown of the contents of all fifty frames and exhibits, which were thematically relating to theatre and film; it also says that all these items were from the collection of F.H. Pitts Esq.
The inside back cover of that same magazine gives meeting dates for 1973, all Saturdays, some at 11.30 am, including the third Branch Annual General Meeting on March 10th and the majority at 2.30 p.m. These were all to be held at The Euston Village Social Club, near Thetford, and the secretary was now G.F. Potter.
In the “Cartophilic Notes and News” for July/August 1973 [Vol. 5, No.52] it was announced that the display in the Theatre Royal would be taking place again from the 1st of October for one week, perhaps two. It was also being considered whether to include displays of non theatrical cards.
In the meantime page 1347 details an excursion by Fred Piper and friends to visit the East Anglian Branch on Saturday 23rd of June 1973. It includes several interesting details that do not seem to appear elsewhere, including forenames, Frank Pitts and George Potter, revealed to have once been the editor of the Cameric Notes and News. And Mr. [T.R.] Summers was the Treasurer. Ted Prior of the Universal Cigarette Card Company was the, or one of the visiting dealer(s)
The next mention of the branch comes in “Cartophilic Notes and News” May/June 1974 [Vol.5, No.57], a huge write up on the Cambridge Cigarette Card Exhibition at the Guildhall on the 7th,, 8th, and 9th of March, written by Michael Reeve, and it also revealed that The Cambridge City Council had given the club a grant to finance the exhibition, due to the success of the event in Norwich. The exhibition in Cambridge was definitely a few steps up as it included two hundred frames and nearly ten thousand cards; it was estimated that 1500 visitors had passed through the doors.
A curious occurrence was reported in “Cartophilic Notes and News” November/December 1974 [Vol.5, No.60] the Editor having been informed of some confusion in the postal codes. This led to the rather amusing fact that in our Branch listings the meeting place address had to say “Euston, near Thetford, Norfolk”, despite the fact that Euston was fully inside Suffolk, this was because the postal authorities decree that Euston had to take its postal address headquarters from the name of the nearest town, even if it was over the border. Is that still the case today?
This issue also details their last meeting of Summer, twenty-one members and visitors filling the Euston Village Social Club Hall. A hot topic was the forthcoming display at the Theatre Royal in Norwich, but an interesting cutting proved the star of the show, this showed a Mr. Norton, current incumbent of a tobacconists shop in London Road North with a hoard of packets of cigarettes that had fallen behind the shelving through the years. This was headed to auction in Norwich, the auctioneer is not recorded. And Michael Reeve had got the go ahead for another exhibition in Cambridge from the 6th to the 9th of March, and was hoping to show another two hundred sheets of cards.
Two pages of January/February 1975`s “Cartophilic Notes and News” [Vol.6, No.61] were devoted to the sixty sheets of exhibits at their third display at the Theatre Royal. As they had discussed, these were on a mixture of subjects this time, though twelve frames featured theatrical and film cards; the others included local East Anglian cards, motoring, natural history, naval and military, and there was even a display of cartophilic literature and catalogues.
The next month, “Cartophilic Notes and News” (March/April 1976 - Vol.6, No.68) said that meeting dates for the year had been arranged, and it was decided that because Easter and the Cartophilic Society AGM were in April there would be no Branch meetings at that time; also the Branch AGM would be on the 20th of March. There was an auction of fifty-six lots which raised the sum of £17.60 for Branch funds. And newsletter 52 was now out (February 1976) According to the May/June “Cartophilic Notes and News” [1976, this copy had no year date - Vol.6, No.69 p.1968] this Annual General Meeting had notified a credit balance of £29.68, and a profit for the year of £12.03. The Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer were re-elected, and P.A. Scully became Vice Chairman with J. Shaw as Auditor. There was a fifty-six lot auction, at which a collection of 71 Chinese language cards failed to get a single bid, and four lots had unfortunately been left at home so would be carried forward. There were two changes, the lots for auction could no longer be brought to the room but sent instead in advance to Mr. A. Young of Felixstowe Ferry – and that from May 1st all meetings would start at 11 am with the formal business beginning at 2 pm.
Despite this promising career, suddenly East Anglia do not appear in the Branch Meeting Dates page of the “Cartophilic Notes and News” for September/October 1976 [Vol.6, No.71 p.2038], and for the following edition they are back but only with the Secretary’s name and address, no meeting details. Then in “Cartophilic Notes and News” January/February 1977 [Vol.7, No.73] the Branch Information pages say “Withdrawn from Branch Membership” and have the Secretary, G.F. Potter’s, address. Maybe the clue is on the same page, which carries a note to say that Francis Pitts, of East Anglia, had died, and a tribute would appear next month. This was the March/April 1977 edition [Vol.7, No.74, Page 2118], with an obituary for Francis Henry Pitts, written by George Potter, where he was revealed to have been a member of the Cameric Club, and a Local Government Officer, who on retirement from his job moved from New Malden to Norwich in Norfolk in 1969. Shortly after that he had appeared in the “Eastern Evening News” and mentioned his intention to form a local club, to which one of the first respondents was George Potter. Mr. Pitts had been Chairman for seven years and most of the time served as club auctioneer as well, until resigning in October 1976 due to continuing ill health. Page 2112 tells us that there had also been a name change, as a small notice says that the Society had received, from the editors, a copy of the newsletter of “The East Anglian Cigarette and Other Trade Card Club”.
The last record I have at the moment, because this is a work in progress, is “Cartophilic Notes and News” March/April 1977 [Vol. 7, No.74] – it contains a write up of the branch meeting on Thursday January 13th, the day Norwich was hit by a blizzard. There was an auction of sixty lots, top price being paid for 24 type cards to include rare trade - it sold for £7. The total of sales was £94.40 and there were thirteen lucky bidders.
There is more to add, but this is an adequate start for now
Though I must quickly record a few notes I made on the top of my sheet
East Anglian Cigarette & Trade Card Club - 1987? - East Anglian Cigarette Card Club 1982 - East Anglian Card Club Park Hotel Diss Feb 19 Mar 18 2000 - January to November 2011 East Anglian Branch2018 cartophilic convention
When the covid outbreak occurred, most of our branches and clubs decided very quickly that they would choose to `play it safe` and remain in shutdown mode for the foreseeable future. However East Anglia Club was the first club to re-open, on the 18th of July 2020, with five visiting dealers - and they reported that thirty four members and three visitors from other clubs came along, all delighted to be able just to see other people`s cards again. However there were a few restrictions, including a sanitising station, and reminders to use it frequently. Social distancing was also firmly enforced - including a maximum of thirty people inside the hall, and only two people being allowed to view the auction lots at any one time.
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There have been several other branches and clubs in East Anglia, namely ;
Essex (1934)
This appears to have been an independent Club. However, maddeningly, that is all I wrote. At this date it can only be in my copies of Cigarette Card News, so I will go through them asap.
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Colchester & District Cigarette Card Club (non-affiliated) 1983-1989?
I picked this club up in Cartophilic Notes and News Vol.11, No.119 (May-June 1983), but this is the first issue after a bit of a gap in my library. The only meeting given was Wednesday the 8th of June, 1983, at Candor Motors, Magdalen Street, Colchester. The secretary was S. Andrews, of Colchester.
However in the very next issue he had gone, and P. North of Maldon was listed instead. There was also a new venue, Holmwood House School, which appears either at Lexden or Leyden. This makes me think that Mr. Andrews was connected with Candor Motors.
P. North stayed as secretary until July-August 1984 (Vol.12 No.126). The next issue had M. Napthan of Colchester in his place. And he was still there in the March-April 1989 magazine.
Then I have another gap. When I return, in 1996, this club was no longer listed.
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Colchester & District Card Collectors Club
This might be the new name of the above club, or a new one. It appears in "Card Times" in January 2000, and the next meeting was listed as February 10th, to take place at Stanway Village Hall. There was no March date so that suggests the meetings might have been bi-monthly.
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Suffolk Postcard & Cigarette Card Club (non-affiliated) 1983
This club is in Cartophilic Notes and News Vol.11, No.119 (May-June 1983). It met at 19 Tower Street, Ipswich, and the secretary was Ray Twidale of Felixstowe. He stayed until November-December 1984, when he was replaced by Mrs. K. Twidale, at the same address in Felixstowe. She kept the club in the family up until the November-December 1986 edition.
The next issue was a curious one as it covered four months, January to April 1987. And some time during this period the secretary changed to Mrs. B. Catton of Ipswich. She was still there in the March/April 1989 issue (Vol.16 No.154) but then I have another gap.
In January/February 1996, (Vol.21 No.195) this club was still listed, but the secretary was Mr. P . Allsop of Felixstowe. After this the Branch and Club address pages seem to appear more sporadically, and there are no non-affiliated clubs listed in the tables of dates. .
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Cambridge Card Club (1994 - 2000)
Found out a bit more about this and given them an earlier start, because the Card Times Magazine of December 1994 has them listed as meeting at the Ex-Services Club in Barnwell Drive. The dates of those meetings were Mondays November 21st and December 19th 1994, which were the third Monday in the month. This building is still there but is now The Cambridge Joint Ex-Services & Royal Mail Social Club
By the Card Times Magazine of October 1998 they had moved to Milton Community Centre, Coles Road, Milton, but were still meeting on the third Monday in the month. And we have them in a later edition with meetings on February 21st and March 20th 2000. However nothing more, yet.