So here, many thanks to CardhawkUK, we have a truly amazing Card of the Day. And this link goes to a page of delights which also includes the story of the company.
Batger & Co, of "Ratcliff and London, E" first appears in our original British Trade Index part 1, RB.25, published in 1962. This volume covers all trade cards up to 1945.
In there, it tells us that Batger issued cards between 1905 and 1915, and that the cards were redeemed against prizes. As you can see, once redeemed they were stamped "CANCELLED" right across the back so that they could not be used in the prize scheme for a second time. However that has led to some confusion - some collectors saying that they were stamped and returned to the sender, whilst others say they were stamped and thrown away. I am not sure why they would bother to stamp them only to throw them away, but the cards are very rare, and if they were returned to the sender then surely there would be more of them about.
The actual cataloguing of the set is as follows : "WELL-KNOWN FOOTBALL CLUBS. Sm. 66 x 38. Nd. (30)"
And in case you were wondering why this is BAV-2, well BAV-1 was awarded to their set of twenty advertisement cards, each of which shows a different example of their confectionery.
In our updated British Trade Index, RB.125, printed in 2006, the text above is reprinted without alteration. However three advertisement cards for Jersey Caramels had been discovered, which have been slotted in before the advertisements we mentioned before.
Now though we know there are thirty cards, quite a few have not yet been discovered, as you will see if you click the link - so if you can add any names to the league, please do. Tell us too if you see the missing cards online, because the information is what we are after. Also, just like the Maynards set, which is somewhere on our web but I cannot find, do notice that these Batger cards recycled the same images, changing the colours of the strips but keeping the players in the same positions - as you will see if you look at cards :
2 and 27
3, 12 and 26
4 and 30
5, 23 and 28
10 and 20
11, 13, 14 and 21
12 and 26
There is only one version of card 17, the goalkeeper, (at the moment), but cards 1,6,7,8,9,15,16,18,19,22,24,25 and 29 are yet to be displayed. Maybe you have them? If so. do tell us