![P644-060A [tobacco : UK] John Player & Sons “Characters from Dickens” (October 1912) 35/50](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2021-12/24%20scrooge%20pair.jpg?itok=eMZ8qMWw)
Who could we feature on Christmas Eve but Ebenezer Scrooge, recently getting a re-incarnation as, of all things, a soft toy banana. But before that, he was a miserly, cold-hearted banker, whose heart is not even melted at Christmas - until he is shown what will happen to him in what may, or may not, be the first instance of time travel ever recorded in literature, masquerading as a dream.
This all takes place on Christmas Eve, courtesy of some interference from his former partner who is now removed to the spirit world. Its kind of a fable, but it also tries to show us that money is not everything, and a little kindness goes a long way.
This is part of a much larger group, which has its home page with our Card of the Day for the 28th of March 2025. Clicking that will take you to a site holding the details of all the sets in the group, plus about the artist, named only here as "Kyd", and linking out to the separate pages via weblinks. This page, and all the satellites will only deal with the set pictured on it, like a quick reference.
The characters in this set are as follows
26. Short - Old Curiosity Shop
27, Quilp - Old Curiosity Shop
28. The Marchioness - Old Curiosity Shop
29. Sampson Brooks - Old Curiosity Shop
30. Sally Brass - Old Curiosity Shop
31. Codlin - Old Curiosity Shop
32. Silas Wegg - Our Mutual Friend (facing left)
33. Rogue Riderhood - Our Mutual Friend
34. Mark Tapley - Martin Chuzzlewit
35. Scrooge - A Christmas Carol
36. Betsey Trotwood - David Copperfield
37. Mr Murdstone - David Copperfield
38. Uriah Heep - David Copperfield
39. David Copperfield [no book title on front]
40. Dan`l Peggotty - David Copperfield
41. Mr. Micawber - David Copperfield
42. Dombey - Dombey & Son
43. Mrs Mac Stinger - Dombey & Son
44. Mr. Squeers - Nicholas Nickleby
45. Fanny Squeers - Nicholas Nickleby
46. Newman Noggs - Nicholas Nickleby
47. Mr. Turveydrop - Bleak House
48. Jo - Bleak House
49. Inspector Bucket - Bleak House [listed as "Mr. Bucket" on reverse]
50. Mr. Chadband - Bleak House
Now these cards were reprinted as number 26-50 of a set of fifty, issued in 1923. And you might have imagined that they would have spent some time putting the characters in a better order, for there are characters from "The Old Curiosity Shop" on cards from both the first and second series. And we do know they did some work on it, because the picture of Silas Wegg, on card 32, is now facing right, which makes it look he has the other leg missing. There is also a different text on card five, of the first series
The first time our second series is recorded in any of our reference books is in RB.17, to the issues of John Player & Sons, which was published in 1950 - where it appears as :
- 47. CHARACTERS FROM DICKENS. Drawn by "Kyd" (J. Clayton Clarke). Fronts in colour.Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Home issues.
B. 25 Small cards, "2nd Series of 25". Numbered 26-50. Issued October 1912
Now in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, this is all changed, and the sets are split up. The A to D identifying letter codes given above are also, oddly, different too. The main reason for this is the dates of issue, as the pre-First World War cards are in one section, and the post-War in another. Our set is under John Player section 2.A, for cards issued between 1903 and 1917 - and it is catalogued as
CHARACTERS FROM DICKENS. See RB.17/47 and H.348 ... P72-25
- A. Small (50) - (1) "A Series of 25". (2) "2nd Series of 25". Nd 26-50.
This remains the same in our updated version of the World Tobacco Issues Index, except for the removal of the RB.17 references, and new codes, which is P644-060
As far as the retail price of this set, in the 1950s, we know that too, courtesy of the 1955 London Cigarette Card Company catalogue, which lists them in their 1888 to 1919 volume as :
Characters from Dickens. odds sets
- 25 Characters 2nd Series (Jun 1914)... 1/- to 1/9d. £ 2