I know, we have used this set before, but it does have an amazing cartophilic claim to fame - check out our tribute to I.O. Evans
This sounds such a great idea, that you could swivel the entire house to follow the sunlight. And the card says, very intriguingly, "experiments are being made with a house of this type in italy". And it was built, and still exists today, it is called the Villa Girasole. If you look at that link, the magazine illustration - from a 1936 edition of "Architettura", an Italian architectural journal - seems to have been used by Mr Evans as indirect if not direct inspiration. It might be interesting to see if we can track down the other originals some time.
Sadly there is no original reference book to Stephen Mitchell. As it was 1939, it ought to appear in some of my early magazines, but I will add those as I start adding them in. In our original World Tobacco Issues Index of 1956 it is catalogued as M122-48 and described as
The World Of Tomorrow. Sm. Steel Blue. Nd. (50). See RB.21/315C
The exact same wording also appears in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index., but the code has changed to M757-780.
So lets look at that RB.21/315C. That has a lot more text, which is :
The World Of Tomorrow. Small cards. Size 68 x 36 m/m. Fronts in greenish black letterpress, glossy. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Numbered series of 50
A) United Tobacco Companies (South) Ltd issue
B) Westminster Home issue
C) Stephen Mitchell Home issue
Printings A and B bear letterpress indicating that an album to house the series can be obtained from P.O. Box 78 Cape Town.
In the front of the book there is a list of all the sets and issuers and that provides us with the information that the U.T.C. issue was in 1938, and within South, East, Central and West Africa. But then it seems to contradict itself by saying the Westminster issue was 1938 in South Africa - unless they mean that as Westminster was based in South Africa, issuing it there was issuing it at home? Your opinions, please, with thanks.
Now if there is anyone out there who has this card, but issued by either United Tobacco or by Westminster Tobacco, we would appreciate a scan of front and back so that we can change this one over. Many thanks in advance. The email is, as always, webmaster@card-world.co.uk