Card of the Day - 2021-10-14

This is one of the issuers from which it is more usual to buy complete sets than make ones up from odds, most dealers only giving an odds price on fifteen of the forty-four sets.

The exceptions are "Aircraft of the World" (1958) and "Football Clubs and Badges" (1961) of which complete sets are said to be quite scarce.

The football set is quite an interesting one as you will often read that it is the same as was issued in 1958 by Lamberts of Norwich, but that is not the whole story as there are many issuers of this single set, which you can read about at https://cartophilic-info-exch.blogspot.com/2014/02/lamberts-of-norwich-amalgamated-tobacco.html.

One of these issuers is actually more relevant to us than the rest, and they were responsible for two versions. This was the Universal Cigarette Card Company, who issued a standard set with their name on and also issued ones that were used as promotional material for a limited time and invited the collector to "Visit Universal Cigarette Card Co at the Ideal Home Exhibition". Universal Cigarette Card Company are still going strong, since 1946.

This portrait of Harold II with the cloak pinned to his shoulder is used on many of the cards of him, I did try, and fail, to find out from where it came originally. Anyone out there fancy a challenge and can track it down do please let us know