This is a curious tale, for at first glance you may think that here we have the 1931 Ogdens set of "Prominent Golfers". But if you look closer on the front, where you would expect to have an issuer`s name, it is not there.
Turning over the card it clearly states that this card was instead issued with Worthingtons Best Bitter, and is an authorised reproduction by Imperial Publishing Ltd.
It also says "a series of 36" - so you might get to wondering who was left out from the original set of fifty cards. And the answer is most of them, for this set is a marriage, made up of six cards from several standard sized sport related sets.
Now as I like doing strange and laborious tasks, I have had the most enormous fun working through the original sets and constructing one of my lists, this containing all the numbers of those people in their original sets.
"Association Footballers" (W.D. & H.O. Wills - 1935)
- 1. S. Cullis - Wolverhampton Wanderers (12)
- 2. J. Mercer - Everton (35)
- 3. E. Drake - Arsenal (12)
- 4. V. Woodley - Chelsea (49)
- 5. S. Matthews - Stoke City (34)
- 6. T. Lawton - Everton (28)
"Cricketers 1928" (W.D. & H.O. Wills - 1928)
- 7. C. Hallows - Lancashire (17)
- 8. Hon. F.S.G. Calthorpe - Warwickshire (4)
- 9. Mr. D.R. Jardine - Surrey (25)
- 10. W. Rhodes - Yorkshire (35)
- 11. H. Sutcliffe - Yorkshire (42)
- 12. Mr. P.G.H. Fender - Surrey (12)
"Men of the Moment in Sport" (all being tennis) (W.A. & A.C. Churchman - 1928)
- 13. J. Borotra (11)
- 14. Karel Kozeluh (39)
- 15. Rene Lacoste (40)
- 16. H.W. Austin (35)
- 17. E. Higgs (38)
- 18. H. Cochet (37)
"Prominent Golfers" (Churchman Ltd - 1931)
- 19. Bobby Jones (25)
- 20. T.H. Cotton (9)
- 21. Miss Joyce Wethered (45)
- 22. Abe Mitchell (29)
- 23. James Braid (5)
- 24. Walter Hagen (16)
"Jockeys 1930" (Ogdens Ltd - 1930)
- 25. H. Wragg (49)
- 26. F. Winter (48)
- 27. H. Beasley (6)
- 28. C. Elliott (15)
- 29. S. Donoghue (14)
- 30. G. Richards (39)
"Rugby Internationals" (Churchman - 1935)
- 31. H. Boughton (3)
- 32. R. C. S. Dick (19)
- 33. E. S. Nicholson (13)
- 34. D. Thomas (39)
- 35. W. Wooller (40)
- 36. W.H. Weston (15)
So does that make it a reproduction, to be avoided, or a tribute, to be collected.
I would be very interested to hear from you about what you think?