Card of the Day - 2023-04-01

Australi
Sniders & Abrahams [tobacco : O/S : Australia] "Australian Footballers" series H (1913) Un/60 - SS87-060.G : SB8-7.8 : RB.20/S88-7.8

So here we have another Australian footballer, the first clue to this week`s theme.

The clue here was rather obscure but on the back of this card it tells you that he was a "Rover". Now in Australian Football, you get three players that are together called followers, because they do not play in a particular position but can follow the ball all over the pitch. They have other names too, one is the ruckman, and they are usually the tallest person on each team, one is the ruck rover, who is slightly shorter, and the last one is the rover, a nippy little player, often the smallest on the pitch, who hangs out just waiting to get the ball from the ruck rover and send it towards the goal. 

However a rover is also a wanderer, who has itchy feet if they are asked to stay in any one place for too long. They  spend their lives going from place to place and are often, in fact for the most part, walking, or hitching rides from passing drivers.

Reputedly Sniders & Abrahams were the first Australian company to make cigarettes by methods of mass-production.

Now we have a comparison chart to these sets 

Sniders Football image
Sniders Text

By the way this set is described as having "head and neck in star, club colours surrounding" - and these are the colours used for the two stripes. It was issued in two formats, showing different brands,  a) "Peter Pan" - and  - b) "Standard". There is not a lot of difference to these backs, for it is exactly the same design, but the top curving banner either says "Peter Pan", with "10 With Holders 10" immediately below - or it says "Standard" with "Cork Tipped" below.

I have not been able to find out much about the Peter Pan "holders" so if you know anything, or have a picture of them from another set, do please share. And there is actually a link with Peter Pan, the book, if not that character, for Captain Hook used a purpose built "holder" that allowed for the smoking of two cigars at the same time. 

I have found that earlier "Standard" branded sets have a larger advertisement design and that tells us they were ""Cork Tipped Warranted Hand Rolled - The Tobacco used is the very highest grade of Bright Virginia". And you can read more about why cigarettes were cork tipped at StanfordUniversity/Cork