Card of the Day - 2022-06-19

Here we have a single card that was inserted into packets as an advertisement, but much later than those which began the John Player story in 1893 - 1894. 

It is described in the original John Player reference book RB.17, issued in 1950, as : 

• 4.  ADVERTISEMENT CARD - 1929. (adopted title). Front per. Fig,4 in colour. Back in grey, inscribed "It`s the Tobacco that Counts", with "Player`s Please" above and below Sailor and Life-belt trade mark. Unnumbered. One subject only as illustrated in Fig.4 
  
  A. Small card
  
  B. Large card
  
  Although issued in the U.K., the cards do not bear the I.T.C. Clause, and are therefore recorded as a Miscellaneous issue. January 1929. 

The reason for the two sizes is that the larger size would have been in the larger packets, on which I guess that type collectors can decide for themselves if they call it a set of one or a set of two. I don’t have the larger size, if anyone does it might be fun to add it and allow your fellow collectors to visually compare the two.

In the London Cigarette Card Catalogue of 1950 both were available, however, they retailed at 1/6d for the standard size and 5/- for the large, so the larger size must have been less easy for them to acquire, and presumably for collectors as well. 

There is one thing which needs a little extra discussion, for, if you look closely at the hat band  on this card it reads H.M.S. Invincible, which is a change from the original Player’s Sailor, for his hat band said H.M.S. Hero, though in fact if you look really closely the life belted head on the reverse of this card still says H.M.S. Hero. Wikipedia/Hero tells of eight ships called H.M.S. Hero but none of them were sailing at the time of this card’s issue. However there was no H.M.S. Invincible in 1929 either, so if anyone knows what is going on, please pass us the info.

Even curiouser there is a set of John Player playing cards issued around the same time which also has the same dual band situation, the sailor on the back of each card having H.M.S. Invincible on his hat band, and the head on the ace having H.M.S. Hero.