Here we have an Australian Footballer, simply described as "A. Wood - Centre Wing - South Melbourne".
A little research fleshes this out, and discovers that his full name was Arthur Charles Wood, and that he was born on the 24th of June 1898. He was only five foot four inches tall, but nippy, and hard to tackle.
He started with South Melbourne in 1917, and later coached them too, though at the time he was only in his mid twenties. About the time that our card was issued he was also captain-coach of Maryborough, which joined the Ballarat Football League in 1924 and surprised everyone by winning not only that year but the next year too.
He died, aged 60, in 1959.
This is one of my favourite sets, simply for its amazing colour. Hard to believe that it is a hundred years old this year, and still as fresh as ever.
It first appears in our original "Australasian Miscellaneous Booklet" (RB.20, issued in 1951) as part of a much larger grouping of four sets all known as Australian Footballers though none are titled. You can read the full listing of those sets, and see the illustrations and checklists, with the card from set 1.A which was our Card of the Day for the 12th of October 2024. However the entry for just this set reads :
48.1. Australian Footballers (adopted title). Three series are known, two of which deal exclusively with players in the Victorian League, and one with players from this League and from the South Australian League.
Series B. Size 66 x 40 m/m. Fronts per Fig.48-B in colour, head and neck studies in rays of Club Colours, captions at left base. Backs in black, with name of player and position in team. Issued about 1923. Numbered set of 40, Victorian League players.
As this set was numbered, it does not have a checklist.