Magazine archive

It must have sounded a rather strange notion to have a card collecting group based on scientific rules, and valuing cards for their story and beauty, but not on a monetary basis - in fact we were not going to sell cards, or even produce a catalogue of their values.

Maybe that was why this new group was a such hot topic amongst the attendees of the inaugural Cameric Cigarette Card Club’s Annual General Meeting on the 8th of October 1938.

Things moved relatively quickly after that, and by the end of 1938 we had not only been formed, but had conducted our first meeting.

However all of our news was still being passed on by word of mouth wherever one collector met with another, it was not printed and officially circulated. 

Then, quite suddenly, on the front page of Volume 6, issue 64 of the London Cigarette Card Company’s own magazine “Cigarette Card News”, dated January 1939, appeared these words : 

“Now that the Society is an established fact, the proprietors of the CIGARETTE CARD NEWS feel that they should do their part in assisting its progress. No doubt in the fullness of time the Society will be able to run a journal of its own - we hope this will happen in the near future - but it is obvious that such an undertaking would be beyond its means or capacity at the present stage [so] we have pleasure in announcing that, commencing with the February issue, the CIGARETTE CARD NEWS will be enlarged by the addition of four pages, which will be placed at the disposal of the Society, without any increase in the price of the journal.” 

You may be interested to know that this price was three-pence. 

A lot of people have no idea of the combined magazine we write of above; indeed, even in the article which appeared in vol.1, no.1 (January/February, 1965) to mark the beginning of "The Cartophilic Notes and News" it states "The Cartophilic Society started, like the Cameric Club, with a duplicated magazine, "The Bulletin". The first number is undated, but it refers to a meeting held on 15th June, 1939, and has a competition for July 13th, so it must have been issued in late June or early July, 1939." 

We do actually know the date of this issue, because it appears in the "Cigarette Card News" magazine issued as Vol.6 No.70 (July 1939), on page 212, as part of this  announcement: 

MONTHLY BULLETIN

A MEMBER (who wishes to remain anonymous) has donated a sum which will render possible the publication of a monthly Bulletin dealing with the activities of the Society. This will be distributed to all members free of charge and will contain the fullest possible reports of all meetings, lectures delivered, forthcoming programmes, etc., competitions and other matters of interest to members. The first number of the "Bulletin" will be issued on 3rd July. The Council of the Society are sure all members will appreciate this very generous gesture, which will enable the Society to have its own organ of opinion and publicity.      
By order of the Council,  
C. L. PORTER, Hon Secretary

C.L. Porter was not just our Hon. Sec., he was the Secretary of The London Cigarette Card Company, and had been Editor of their “Cigarette Card News” from 1933 to 1937. On the opposite page to this was further information, as part of the notes from the Council Meeting at Ye Olde Cock Tavern, Fleet Street London EC4, which had taken place on 15th June 1939. This said: 

“...An offer of a donation of £15 from a member who wishes to be anonymous to cover the cost for one year of issuing a monthly Bulletin by the Society was gratefully accepted...”

I have a reasonable suspicion as to whom this anonymous donor was, but will maintain their secret. However, if they are watching over us, as they may well be, may I say thank you from us all....

So began “The Bulletin : official organ of The Cartophilic Society of Great Britain”. It started out at Volume 1, Number 1, and the first editor was Eric Gurd, a keen researcher on cards and their issuers, with a special interest in Robert Peacock Gloag, about whom he even wrote a book, "Prologue to Cigarettes. The story of Robert Peacock Gloag, England's first cigarette maker". 

The first seven issues were indeed duplicated, on a machine belonging to the London Cigarette Card Company, and housed at 30 Wellesley Road in Chiswick, London. It was of larger format than the "Cigarette Card News" but it remained the same size content wise, at just four pages, that it had when it shared the magazine.

However, number VIII dated March 1940, changed everything. Not only was it printed, rather than duplicated, but it was reduced in size, to similar dimensions as the magazine of today, though much thinner in pages. And here it is.

It starts with a report of the Council Meeting of Saturday, February the 17th, 1940, which includes the exciting news that as of now on junior members, those aged under twenty-one, would, for the first time, be allowed to join the Society.

The war years saw many articles and letters were still published from serving personnel, who may have been prevented from being with their cards, but were still keeping their collecting spirit, despite their cards being damaged or destroyed by the blitz, or donated by well meaning relatives to the waste paper fund.

Poignantly, some letters also appear from relatives, sharing the news of a collector lost for all time. One of those was Eric Gurd’s own son, Pilot Officer Ronald Edward Gurd, RAFVR, who was killed on active service on the 14th of October 1942.

The Bulletin continued until issue 43, dated February 1943.

There is no word in that edition of "The Bulletin" as to it either being the last, or to it having a new title from the next edition. But in March 1943, when the magazine was delivered, it was suddenly entitled "The Cartophilic World" and the numbering had returned to Volume 1 Number 1. 

Eric Gurd remained as editor.

As it was a turning point, back numbers of the Bulletin were listed as being available for sale to complete your collection, in two formats - you could either buy a volume containing just issues 8 to 43, available from stock, for 10/-. or a more expensive volume which included the first seven issues too, specially reprinted to a smaller scale so that they matched the other magazines.

The first illustration in any of our magazines came in September, 1944.

Eric Gurd stayed on as editor until August, 1949, then Mr. Edward Wharton-Tigar took over in September 1949 (Vol.8 No.79). At that time, Wilfred T Wicks was appointed as honorary Assistant Editor, in order for Mr. Wharton-Tigar to have time to continue writing the original Cartophilic Reference Books, (the production of which he had also taken over from Eric Gurd), and the new World Indexes. 

In September 1952 (Vol.9 No.101) Commander A. M. “Bunny” Rundle D.S.C. was inducted as a Deputy Editor, this must have been a typo as it was later changed to D.S.O. Then in September 1953 (Vol.10 No.207) it was announced that Commander Rundle and Mr. Wharton-Tigar were to be joint editors, splitting the work between them and deputising if one was called away on other tasks.  It is often written that Volume 12, Number 130 (July/August 1957) was the last edited by Mr. Wharton-Tigar and the first by Commander Rundle, but this is incorrect. That edition merely contained the news that Mr. Wharton-Tigar wished to be relieved from office as his work was sending him to Canada, plus an appeal for a new editor. It also said that in the interim the content would be provided by E.C. Prior and W. J. Wicks. This appeal was not wholly successful but a spot of coaxyorum was applied, and Volume 12, Number 131 was once more edited by Commander A. M. “Bunny” Rundle D.S.O., who had been convinced to return after two years absence, and actually says in his first editorial that this was because “no-one else would volunteer”. 

September 1958 (Vol.12 No.137) had sad news, Mr. Wicks had been ill and his doctors had advised complete rest. He therefore, reluctantly, was stepping down as Assistant Editor. 

In July/August 1959 (Vol.13 No.142) Commander Rundle asked to be relieved of his duty, this was because his business had  expanded to a point that he could no longer serve us. This was his final issue, and he actually died not long after. F.V. “Franz” Blows took over for issue Volume 13, number 143 (September/October 1959). He was a familiar name to most of the current members as he had been the joint founder of the Cameric Cigarette Card Club and also one of the original founders of the Cartophilic Society. And he continued to man the post until the final edition of "The Cartophilic World", Volume 15 No.174, dated November/December 1964.

The reason for this was that in 1964 the Cartophilic Society and the Cameric Cigarette Card Club had amalgamated - and the result of that was a new magazine, this one, showing here, dated January/February 1965, in which the numbering reverted to Volume 1 Number 1, all over again. Though actually it was the two hundred and thirtieth time that our words had appeared in some kind of printed magazine.

It also had a new editor, A. E. Arnold, nicknamed "Arch", but again, he was not really new, for he had edited the Cameric Notes and News, up to the time of the merger, and is recorded as having done an excellent job under the challenging circumstances of trying to combine two magazines whilst retain the best of both.

One thing he did was temporarily enlarge the number of pages, from 20 to 24, and another was to change the title. He did this in a very clever way, keeping the link to both clubs alive, for our magazine had been “Cartophilic World”, and theirs “Cameric Notes and News”.

However what a lot of our readers may not realise was that this was not actually a new title, as in the late 1930s The London Cigarette Card Company’s “Cigarette Card News” published a series of articles entitled “Cartophilic Notes and News”, which had been written by “Observer”. The question there is who was the pen behind the pseudonymous “Observer”? If anyone knows, do please tell us.

And actually there is a rather interesting statement in the first edition of this magazine, vol.1, no.1 (January/February, 1965), which reads : 

The name of the new magazine caused much scratching of heads, and in a recent editorial I asked for suggestions. I had only one answer, from Mr. T. Rowles of Bristol, who proposed "The Cartophilic Notes and News". In the mean time Mr. E. G. Knight had suggested the same title. Two suggestions for the same title clinched the matter and so your magazine is now called "The Cartophilic Notes and News". Long may it flourish. 
                                                                                             F.V. Blows 

In 1969 T. E. "Tom" Kempshall took over as editor, he was a keen ornithologist who wrote many fine editorials on his feathered friends, but was also interested in the folklore of flowers, and the story of medals, both of which he intended to publish books about. I once heard that when he took over it was on the understanding that if not enough copy was available he could fill the space, and that he did, very admirably. He also saw that the cover was changed to a glossy board, printed in two colours, and that half tone pictures became the rule, not the rarity. He stayed for eight years, and forty-eight issues, and it is recorded that “he never failed to produce our magazine on time despite many periods when his health and mobility were often affected by illness”. His final issue was Vol. 6, No.72 (November/December 1977), which was also the last edition printed at the Sidmouth Printing Works, on the Devon Coast. 

Vol. 7, No.73 (January/February 1977), therefore had a new editor,  Douglas Eyes.

Maurice Large became our editor with Volume 11, Number 117, March 1983, and a huge milestone was reached just two issues later with Volume 11 Number 119, dated May/June 1983, when suddenly instead of our familiar white cover with coloured stars, there was this totally different cover, a large green solid, on which was an image of a card.  

Volume 35, Number 3 (May/June 2011) was important because it was a “double editor” edition. Peter Wright was retiring after four years, and John Devaney had taken his seat. 

Then, in 2014, there was another development

This time the change was more far reaching, for both our magazine and our website saw themselves renamed as "Card World", a very forward thinking title which reflects that in these modern times "cards" encompass many things, and include many collectors.

Few of us now restrict ourselves vigorously to collecting only cards that were issued with tobacco - our enthusiasm is boundless, and includes 

• early "trade" cards issued with products
• giveaway advertising postcards,
• packets,, boxes, wrappers and tins
• sporting memorabilia
• television, film, and theatre cards
• music cards
• costume cards
• autograph cards
• artist cards
• hologram, 3D and laser cards
• modern issues sold commercially
• trading cards sold as complete sets

This time we did not go back to the start with the numbering, so the first edition of this magazine, showing here, is July to August 2014, Volume 38, No.4. 

On the first two editions it actually said “Successor to Cartophilic Notes and News” in a small box below the title, but only on those two.