A few oohs, over there? For this is not the Wills version at all. This one comes from South Africa and the set is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as being
sm. 67 x 36. Nd.
1. a series of 60 - see RB.21/200-188M
2. 2nd series of 50 - see RB.21/200-188C
3. 3rd series of 50 - see RB.21/200-188B
I think I may have got those letters wrong. Never mind it will be sorted tomorrow. RB.21/200-188M tells us the strange make up of those sets, for the subjects in our set are fifteen cards from the Wills first series, thirteen cards from the Wills third series, and thirty-two from the Wills fourth series. This is even odder when you learn that United Tobacco Company actually issued the entire Wills third series as is, but never issued the second.
In the original Wills set this card of the comet appears as number nine of the third series.
Comets are one of the most exciting sights in the night sky, with their long streaming tail of tinselly light and a ball of glowing white fire at the front. And yet few of us ever get to see them. They are all numbered, and the system of numbering them was all started by one man, Charles Messier, who did it purely for his own pleasure, just like we do with wants lists of cards, so that we might cross off the ones we have collected and inscribe rings round those we would really like to spot.
There is actually a list of comets on the internet, and it tells you when and where to go out and look upwards into that night sky. The site is run by Sky and Telescope - so there is now no excuse, save cloudy weather, to go find yourself a comet.