Card of the Day - 2022-01-05

John Player Boy Scout
John Player & Sons [tobacco : UK] "Boy Scout & Girl Guide Patrol Signs & Emblems" (January 1933) 26/50 - P644-144A : P/29

This is the blackbird, the fourth most popular bird seen last year, and actually it had risen up the ranking. This is a lovely card, combining the patrol sign badge and an accurate representation of the actual bird in a countryside setting.

The text tells us that the motto of the Blackbird Patrol is “Happy and Helpful”. The happiness obviously comes from the fact that the bird is often described as a bright, cheerful singer, who, or so the text tells us, even sings in the rain. It also mentions that blackbirds have two or more broods per season, and that the young of the first brood are sometimes seen helping to feed the second. This would have been a useful thought to pass on to families with more than one child. 

The set was also issued as transfers. They do not look so attractive, because the picture and wording is back to front. The idea was much as the silk, you placed the whole of the transfer card, which was thinner than a normal one, into a bowl of lukewarm water for about a minute, and then you laid the transfer in place wherever you wanted it to go, pressing it into place. When it was fully dry, you wet the backing and it slid away. It was stated that a thin coat of varnish made the transfer permanent, but I think this is for furniture rather than arms, legs, etc. It strikes me that some of the transfer sets would have been met with less enthusiasm than this, for almost certainly every boy scout would have wanted his patrol emblem on display.