So your clue here was the name of this bird, the storm petrel. As to how this bird gained its name, it is a curious tale. Some sailors swear that they only appear during a storm, and that this is because they are conjured up by it, to disappear again once it gets calm. However the Inuit peoples say that the petrel causes the storm by the beating of its wings. There is also a legend that they are the souls of drowned sailors, who come to show their descendents a safe way back to better seas - which is why they are also known as Mother Carey`s Chickens, or more correctly Mater Cara`s, which is Latin for the Virgin Mary, who is also known as Our Lady of Navigators or of Seafarers. Whilst some seamen think that the birds are souls of sailors with an entirely opposite intent, that they have come to doom the ships so that they might have new friends to tell their seafaring tales to.
A storm is the next level to a gale, stronger winds and more damage. It is often accompanied by pressure changes which result in thunder and lightning making it not only uncomfortable to battle against but can be hazardous to life.
Lets start with the fact that this set, and code, is not in the British Trade Indexes (for the company is Antipodean - being based in South Yarra, Melbourne, Victoria) nor the World Tobacco Issues Index (for it is not a tobacco issue). Thankfully it has been recorded in print though, in our Reference Books to the cards of Australia and New Zealand - RB.30 and RB.33.
The first of these provides our code and tells us that there are different base wordings. These are :
A) Tuckfield`s Teas - Melbourne
B) Tuckfield`s Teas Ty-nee Tips - Orange Pekoe - Tango
C) Red Packet Ty-nee Tips - The Special Occasion Tea
D) Albums can be purchased from Tuckfield`s Teas, 12 Yarra Street, Sth. Yarra
E) Special Albums obtainable from Tuckfield`s Teas, 12 Yarra Street, Sth. Yarra
F) Tuckfield`s Teas - Always Please
G) Special Books to hold your collection of Bird Card Studies can be purchased from ... Yarra 3141
At the time of the first volume, RB.30 (1983), the set was described as
Series Birds. Four sets of 96. Backs in grey black except F in blue.
An exchange token headed "Tuckfield`s Bird Card Series - No`s 1 - 384" was issued for for use as an exchange for any number against a stamped addressed envelope, and advertised "Bird Studies Books" No`s 1 - 4 (96 cards each) for $2 eacha) Nd. 1/32; back “No .… of series of Thirty-two cards”. Bases A, B.
b) Nd. 1/96; back “No .… of series”. Base D.
c) Nd. 33/96; back “No .… of series of Ninety-six”. Base B.
d) Nd. 97/128; back “No .… of series of 192”. Base F.
e) Nd. 97/288; back “No .… of series of 192”. Base D.
f) Nd. 129/192; back “No .… of series of 192”. Bases E, D. Backs blue. No.184 known in base E with back in black.
g) Nd. 193/288 (titled “Bird Series”), back “No .… of a series”. Base D.
h) Nd. 289/384, back “No .… of a series by Deirdre Hunt”. Base G.
Wow that was confusing to type! Anyway, there is a little bit of added info to pass on, because Deirdre Hunt is also credited for their “Australian Wildflower Series”, a set of thirty cards. However on the sample card we have been shown from set H they have spelt her name wrong. and it says "DEIDRE" with the first "R" missing. Can anyone confirm that this is the case on all the cards, or were we shown an error?
Deirdre Hunt seems to still be alive. She is an Australian artist, a member of the Australian Wildlife Art Society, and she was born in Melbourne in 1939. Some websites will tell you that she painted for Tuckfield’s, Ty-nee Tips`, Kinkara`s, and Copper Kettle`s tea and coffee cards - but the last three are brands used by Tuckfield`s Tea.
The only extra info in our follow up book, RB.33, The Australian & New Zealand Index part II, is that “all backs are in grey-black, back (f) is also found in blue.”
No idea of date on any of these, maybe someone out there can supply these for us, if so many thanks. The problem is that Tuckfield issued and re-issued these cards several times They first appeared in the 1950s, and carried on (and off) right until after the millennium. Pretty much all collectors agree that the first series was indeed of 32 cards, numbered 1-32. But some are adamant that these 32 cards were then reprinted and re-issued, plus new subjects, making a total of 96 cards - and that these were then re-issued, plus another batch of new ones, to make a total of 192 cards. And so it went on, increasing, each reissuing the cards before and adding more after.
We are also told that in 2001 the set of 384 cards was reissued, plus almost a hundred more, to make a set of 480 cards.
Research is continuing!