Card of the Day - 2022-03-04

This is the first card in a series which spreads over four cards and gives what it calls the basic alphabet for the Deaf and Dumb.

You can now see all the cards, front and back, at the bottom of this section.

We know this today as sign language, and it is, as it says, a way of converting the alphabet, and some common phrases into a sign or symbol that is universally known. In this country it is often called British Sign Language, or BSL for short, and it is actually recognised as an official language.

Something you may not know though is that just like any language it has regional variations, and the signs can also be different in other countries.

You may think it is very far sighted of the scouts to include sign language in their lives, but it also had a more secretive use, more along the lines of codes and ciphers, that could be used to pass messages and comments under the noses of non-scouts.

As for when sign language began, the earliest recorded reference to a system that enabled people to express their feelings by making signs comes in the 5th century BC - however it suggests that it was already in common usage by those who could not speak. You can read the entire fascinating story of sign language at Wikipedia/SignLanguages - and I would also like to mention sense.uk

Even more amazingly, I know of no other cards showing sign language in the whole of cartophily. If you do, please let us know. 

Rather a tale to tell here about the "Boy Scouts" grouping.

Ogden`s first series, issued in January 1911, was entitled “Series of 50”, and was available with the back in blue or green. where the back of cards 39 and 40 were mixed up, making it possible to collect two correct cards and two swapped over. There is also an anonymous version, with a blue back, which was actually issued by Imperial Tobacco of Canada, which looks like it was discovered by Jefferson Burdick, who coded it C47 in his catalogue. This last version originally had an album clause up the sides, but this was later blocked out in blue. There is also a very curious fact, that being that some of these cards have been found with a non-official label stuck on which reads “Help the Boy Scout Fund .. Grand Entertainment 2nd May`14”. This originated in South Africa. No idea if this appears on a whole set or whether it was just isolated cards used to serve a purpose. But I am sure one of our readers can help.

The Ogden “2nd Series of 50” was issued in February 1912, again available with the back in blue or green. It was also issued overseas by Player, with grey backs, though Player does not seem to have issued the first nor any of the others, so I am wondering how they numbered it!

The Ogden “3rd Series of 50” was issued in October 1912, and available with the back in blue or green.

Now these first three sets were also issued by Churchman – I was getting way too confused to add them in above so I have extracted them until now. 

The Churchman “1st Series” was issued in January 1916, and newly numbered 1-50, because these cards had formed Ogden`s third series of 1912. 

The Churchman “2nd Series” was issued in August 1916, and were exactly the same cards as the Ogden`s 1912 second series, so no need to change the numbering. 

Churchman`s “3rd Series” appeared in October 1916, and these were the cards which had appeared as Ogden`s first series of 1911, re-numbered to 101-150. (now you know why I extracted this lot) The entire set was printed in two different back versions, brown and blue. And we can tell these are from exactly the same printing as the Ogden because they also have the error cards at 39 and 40.

By the time of Ogden`s “4th Series of 50”, issued in November 1913, there was no competition, Ogden were the only issuer, and the back was only available in one colourway, that being green. 

That same one colour, green, remained for the “5th Series”, which was issued in September 1914, but another curiosity is that this fifth Series only contained 25 cards, not 50.

My own thought is that if you look the date, it is not inconcievable that the arrival of the war rushed through what was already ready to go, and they just printed the artwork done so far, either to get the information out there, or for fear that it would have to wait and the set would never get completed. Maybe other sets were also cancelled. But we may never know.

Anyway here are all four fronts. And if you do know of any other cards featuring sign language, please let me know.