So here we have another simple rabbit card with a fascinating story.
Our original British Trade Index of 1962 lists it as 1924-5, and says that all cards are found with a corner clipped [something which is often done in connection with a prize or with an album exchange.] It gives the title "Animals" though this does not appear on the card, so it also says (A) which means the title was adopted, given to it by the earliest cartophilic researchers. They measure 62 x 38 m/m and are cut outs. And they are numbered on each card. In total there are three series, a first, second and third series, each of twenty cards. Then there is a fourth series, of "Regimental Nicknames", measuring the same size, but a set of thirty cards. There is also a code, D/X21-359.
If we go there, and it is at the back of the same volume, the first thing it tells us is that "the recording under set 359 in RB.21 is repeated and revised below". I have scanned this RB.21/359, which was issued in 1952, and here it is
The revisions to this for the British Trade Index were as follows:
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1 (or A above) the issuer name is given in full as African Tobacco Manufacturers, and it is also added that the cards are numbered. However the phrase "cut out" must have been thought rather confusing, so it has been changed to (a) die cut to stand out (b) not die cut. This company was based in South Africa, and it was a tobacco issue. And the cards were issued in 1922.
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2 (a new issuer) Dunns. Cards were un-numbered, and there were two sizes (A) 62 x 38 (B) 67 x 35 m/m. Dunns issued chocolate, so trade, and were based in London. I have not yet found the year this set was issued.
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3 (or C above) Thomas Holloway. Size 97 x 65 m/m. Cards were numbered but could be found in a) English b) Dutch and c) Spanish. They were also vari-backed with six possible adverts. Thomas Holloway issued pills and ointments, but the intriguing thing is that they issued these larger cards much earlier, in 1900. They are also a bit hard to locate in dealer lists because they call them "Natural History Series" and batch them in with other cards.
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4.(or B above) Hustler Soap. Size 62 x 38 m/m. Die cut to stand out. Three series, each numbered between 1 and 20.
Some of the confusion was cleared up by the more recent update of the British Trade Index, though strangely it is listed under John Knight Ltd rather than Hustler Soap. This is because as John Knight they issued larger sized advert cards and postcards, some of which are most elaborate and have moving wheels and slats. The book also tells us that the Hustler cards are not necessarily all found with the corner clipping and it is possible to find enough entire cards to make complete sets. And it also clears up any thought of Regimental Nicknames being the fourth set, for that is revealed to have been issued in 1924, before the Animals sets started.