A very unusual card today, this is one of a so called Presentation Set of twelve extra large cards which was given to "tobacconists etc" at Christmas to thank them for their custom and to ensure the same would happen the next year. So your first question is who were the "etc" - does anyone out there know? If so do tell us please.
It measures 133 x 101 m/m, the fronts are letterpress in colour and the backs are grey with descriptive text. Now in our original World Tobacco Issues Index this set, and the others, was listed under section 6F of the Wills Section, however it is now 7F, as we discovered some sets that were prepared but never issued and they squeezed in.
There are actually four sets listed as "Presentation Issues", these being as follows - and if anyone would like to supply the identities of any of the missing cards, check and amend our list, or send us a scan of one of the cards as a sample front and back, we will add them in the text.
"The British Empire" (W675-802 : W62-551 : W/158) was presented at Christmas 1928. The cards here are 1. Australia (Gold Flake) - 2. British Guiana (Cut Golden Bar Tobacco) - 3. The British West Indies (E.G. Mixture and Fireside Flake) - 4. Canada (Gold Flake) - 5. The East African Dependencies (Bulwark Cut Plug) - 6. The Federated Malay States (Cut Golden Bar Tobacco) - 7. India (Flag Cigarettes) - 8. Newfoundland (Flag Cigarettes) - 9. New Zealand (Capstan Navy Cut Medium Cigarettes) - 10. Nigeria (Bulwark Cut Plug) - 11. Sarawak (E.G. Mixture and Fireside Flake) - 12. The Union of South Africa (Capstan Navy Cut Medium Cigarettes)
"Cities Of Britain" (W675-804 : W62-552 : W/174) was presented at Christmas 1929. The cards here are :
1. Birmingham (Gold Flake Cigarettes) - 2. Bristol (Cut Golden Bar Tobacco) - 3. Cardiff (E.G Tobaccos) - 4. Chester (Gold Flake) - 5. Edinburgh (Bulwark Cut Plug) - 6. Glasgow (Cut Golden Bar Tobacco) - 7. Leeds (Flag Cigarettes) - 8. Liverpool (Flag Cigarettes) - 9. London (Capstan Navy Cut Medium Cigarettes) - 10. Manchester (Bulwark Cut Plug) - 11. Sheffield (E.G. Tobaccos) - 12. York (Star Cigarettes)
Our set "Industries of Britain" (W675-808 : W62-554 : W/241) was presented at Christmas 1930. There are several brands shown on the reverse, and some of the titles differ back and front, hence the two titles separated by the forward slash symbol. If you have any cards different to this list do let us know. And just to not confuse you, the card of Rayon actually has "(Artificial Silk)" on the front and the back. Anyway the list of cards in this set are :
1. Chemicals / The Chemical Industry (Gold Flake Cigarettes) - 2. Coal / Coal Mining (Cut Golden Bar Tobacco) - 3. Cotton / The Cotton Industry (E.G. Tobaccos) - 4. Motor Cars / Automobile Engineering (Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes) - 5. Electrical Engineering (Wild Woodbine Cigarettes) - 6. Iron and Steel (Capstan Curly Cut Tobacco) - 7. Leather (Star Cigarettes) - 8. Railway Engineering (Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes) - 9. Rayon (Artificial Silk) (Bulwark Cut Plug) - 10. Shipbuilding (Three Castles Medium Cigarettes) - 11. Tobacco / The Tobacco Industry (Gold Flake Cigarettes) - 12. Wool / The Woollen Industry (Star Cigarettes)
Finally "The British Empire" (W675-802 : W62-551 : W/158) was presented again for Christmas 1931, not sure why, nor how well a duplicate set would have been received.
The other set under Presentation Issues does not really fit well with the above, for that trio is a matched set. However, it is entirely possible that due to its nature this fourth set was indeed presented to tobacconists and so it qualifies on a technicality. It also contains thirty-two cards, and measures 91 x 63 m/m. And it is an untitled set, though it was fairly easy to find it one and call it "Happy Families" (W/374 : W62-553 : W675-806) for it was indeed based on the popular playing card game with the four members of the family (Miss, Master, Mr, Mrs) making up a complete group.
The families here are :
Bulwark Cut Plug Tobacco - Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes - Wills Cut Golden Bar Tobacco - Gold Flake Cigarettes - Wills Legation Navy Cut - Star Cigarettes - Wills Viceroy Tobacco - and - Wild Woodbine Cigarettes. You can see them all online at the World Of Playing Cards website, where they state that they were produced by Mardon [Son and Hall], and I would agree.