Card of the Day - 2021-12-19

Our second clue here was that these are the arms of NATAL, a place "discovered" by Vasco da Gama on Christmas Day, 1497. As for how it got its name, well, if you were in Indonesia at Christmas you might well say "Selamat Hari Natal", though some areas of Spain also use Natal or Nadal in their greetings. And if you went to Italy, "Buon Natale" is only a skip away. 

At the time this card was being issued, Natal was in the news, because it was made a Province of South Africa only in May 1910, and given the capital city of Pietermaritzburg. However it was not a free state, and the original inhabitants, most of whom had relocated into the country areas, were slowly pushed out into Cape Town, whilst the more recent arrivals, from India, were also moved to Durban. You can tell that this enforced relocation was fairly successful as by 1960 Natal was the only one of those areas to vote against becoming a republic rather than remaining under British control.  However, over the next forty years, things started to change, often using violence when no words would speak of frustration. And finally, in 1994, ]KwaZulu and Natal Province merged to form KwaZulu-Natal. 

The galloping animals are actually wildebeest, and they had been used as the badge of the colony from 1846, becoming the coat of arms from 1905, though the Royal Warrant to use them did not arrive until 1907, and they were also retained when Natal became part of the Union of South Africa in 1910. However today the emblem has altered, and only one remains - it is now a  lion and a wildebeest rearing to each side of a shield.

This set is part of a group which encompasses many variations but this is the home page because it deals with the first version ever to be issued. Therefore it will have a full description of itself, then a list of the other versions, which will all eventually appear elsewhere and be links to where that "elsewhere" is.

So our set was originally catalogued in our original Wills Reference Book part III - or, more correctly, "RB.14 – The Cigarette Card Issues of W.D. & H.O. Wills Parts I and II (revised) and Part III". This was published in 1949. 

40.  50.  ARMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Fronts lithographed in colour; backs with descriptive text. Issued 1910.

• HOME ISSUE - Backs in grey. 
  
  A. With I.T.C. Clause
   
• GENERAL OVERSEAS ISSUE - Backs in black.
  
  B. Without I.T.C. Clause
   
• AUSTRALIAN ISSUES - Backs in grey
  
  C. Without I.T.C. Clause. With "Wills Specialities" advertisement.
  D. Without I.T.C. Clause. With "Havelock" advertisement.
  
  In C and D subjects have been redrawn, similar to A, except for card No.1, in which "Hong Kong" replaces "Hudson Bay Company". In these two issues, the descriptive text has been added in a blue colour shade.
  
  The same basic designs were used for a series printed on satin, medium sized cards mounted on thin board. This series is recorded in section IV of Wills issues. 

Before we race on, we do have a month of issue for our original version, thanks to a list published in the Wills Works Magazine in 1936, which tells us that it was circulated from October 1910. As far as the foreign versions, there is no mention, which means that they were printed overseas.

We also know that our set had a very short run, as it was replaced in December 1910 with the calendar for 1911. This is possibly why, in November 1931, the artwork was reused and the set reissued, in a larger size, though, confusingly, still entitled as "Arms of the British Empire", with a second series, in the same size, appearing in April 1932.

The next appearance of our home issue comes in our World Tobacco Issues Index, which is a listing of every known card issued by a tobacco company anywhere in the world. Because of that there was no space to be so effusive, and so our version is simply listed as :

• ARMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. Sm. Nd. (50). See X21/200-126.A ... W62-64

As for the other versions, they appear in other parts of the Wills section, and even in the "Z" codes at the end of the book - but those sections appear with the write-ups for those specific cards. The "X" reference is for the handbook to the World Tobacco Issues Index, at first printed as a separate book, then, in later reprints, combined. However it also paraphrases the entry in reference book RB.21, which deals with overseas issues through British American Tobacco, specifically the versions printed on Satin, and which you can read elsewhere on this site in our newsletter - see table below for their location.

The entry for our standard sized set in the original handbook to the World Tobacco Issues Index reads as follows :

• X21/200-126. ARMS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. The recordings under W/40 and RB.21/126 are summarised and amended below. 
  
  1. Set 1. Small cards. 67 x 36 m/m. Front per No.1 at Fig. X21/200-126. Numbered series of 50.
  
      A. Home and Overseas issues. No.1 is "Hudson Bay Company", subjects otherwise as B.
         (a) Wills Home Issue, back in blue-grey with Album and I.T.C. Clauses.
         (b) Wills Overseas issue, back in black, without Album and I.T.C. Clauses.
         (c) Anonymous Overseas issue, back in black with Album Clause (price 25 cents). Reference USA/C.42.
  
      B. Wills Australian Issues. No.1 is "Hong Kong", otherwise subjects as in A but redrawn with minor and major differences in design. 
         (a) Wills` Specialities Issue
         (b) Havelock issue

The rest of the section deals with the silk cards. 

The following is a link section, identifying all these versions, and allowing you to click and visit where they appear. Once there, you will find all the details of that version of the set, extracted from our reference books, catalogues, and contemporary magazines. Eventually all versions below will have a set number in first column, with a clickable link, but they are not all in place yet.

Anonymous Overseas issue, back in black with Album Clause (price 25 cents). Reference USA/C.42.

By the way, some of these are Cards of the Day, where you will go straight to the card - whilst others are part of newsletters, where you will need to scroll down until you find them. 

Set 1	WILLS HOME ISSUE	grey backs. (our card)
Set 2	WILLS GENERAL OVERSEAS ISSUE	black backs, album price 1/-
Set 3	WILLS CANADIAN ISSUE	black backs, album price 25 cents
Set 4	WILLS AUSTRALIAN ISSUE	grey backs, no ITC Clause, "Specialities"
Set 5	WILLS AUSTRALIAN ISSUE	grey backs, no ITC Clause, "Havelock"
Set 6	WILLS AUSTRALIAN ISSUE	medium size, satin fronts, back paper with black print
Set 7	ANONYMOUS  ISSUE	large size, satin fronts, back paper with blue print, numbered to fronts
Set 8	ANONYMOUS  ISSUE	large size, satin fronts, back paper with blue print, numbered to backs
Set 9	ANONYMOUS  ISSUE	large size, satin fronts, back paper with brown print, numbered to fronts
Set 10	ANONYMOUS  ISSUE	large size, satin fronts, no back paper or printing, numbered to backs
Set 11	WILLS HOME ISSUE	large cards, grey backs, series one
Set 12	WILLS HOME ISSUE	large cards, grey backs, series two

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