So here we have the first ever Brooke Bond set. This is because at the time this was scheduled to go on I was still working on the the theme of it just being standard tea. But guess what, in India Red Label Tea is top of the list for making a brew called Masala Chai, and this is often served as iced, at which time it is liberally spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and cloves, and sometimes ginger depending on whether that is locally grown. So guess that is another big tick for iced tea week!
Now some collectors of really early cards may think this is incorrect, but there was a reason why I said "set". For in the 1890s Brooke Bond issued advertising cards in several designs, most of which show at least one Chinese person, and say "Congou Tea". This is actually a black tea from China, and it was one of the most popular sort to be imported, in fact it provided the base of the original English Breakfast Tea, though as we have already found out the black tea is less prized in China and comes from the older leaves, not the fresh young green ones. As for the name Congou there are many theories - some say it comes from the Chinese word Gongfu, meaning skill, or taking care in doing things correctly, in learning a craft. This was anglicised, rather mistakenly, into being the name of the Martial Art, Kung Fu, rather than the skill and training it took to be able to perform it correctly. .
At one time it was thought that all these advertisement cards gave the address of 29 Market Street, Manchester, (which is now an EE mobile phone shop) but more recently (just in time to appear in the vintage part four) one was unearthed that says 11 Boar Lane, Leeds (for a long time this was a photographers, but now that too is a phone repair shop). I do not have any of these early cards, but if there are some in your collection and you think it might be fun to show them off here, please send us a scan or clear photo of the front and back - the email being webmaster@card-world.co.uk
Now our set was issued in 1954, and it is recorded in our original British Trade Index as being "BRITISH BIRDS FRANCES PITT SERIES. Sm. Nd. (20) B.1 see D.231".
Checking up shows that the set was also issued by Musgrave Brothers of Cork, and also as their first set of cards, but later, not until 1960. The Irish cards are a slightly different size, at 68 x 36 m/m as opposed to our 68 x 42 m/m.
Curiously, even at the height of the Brooke Bond reprinting, this set was never re-issued with a black back. Does anyone know why?
