Our card, with those super little mice, relates to the harvest, not only because these are harvest mice but because June was a critical time for the setting of the future harvest. So here we are going to have a chat about weather lore for June, about which there are several sayings. This is probably because it is the peak of the growing season and so watching the crops was more important than ever, and when you watch things really closely you do seem to notice those little coincidences.
Some of the best known sayings revolve around what would have been pretty obvious to farm folk. The main ones are that if you have a sunny June you will get an early harvest, simply because it gives the crop extra heat to ripen it. Some also say that if other wild or cultivated plants blossom early, the harvest will also be early. Again this is common sense, for it means that the soil is warm and this encourages growth in all fields of nature.
Another saying revolves around the wind, and it goes that some harvests will be plentiful if there is wind. This is all to do with pollination, the wind taking the pollen about and doing the work as well as and instead of the bees and beetles.
In contrast if it is cold and wet in June the saying goes that the harvest will be late, for that extra burst of warmth will be lacking. Though some farmers firmly believe that a little spot of rain does not really matter, for if the crop is sufficiently advanced, and protected, the rain will add warmth and moisture. Mind you one saying tells that there is a vital date, namely June the 8th, on which if it rains, it will also rain when it is time to harvest. And there is a time scale for this, forty days later, so you had better be prepared or harvest early. Now after quite a bit of research, this date still seemed to have no Religious significance, though sometimes it is Corpus Christi. But I have been told that it was the Feast of St, Medard, who is the Patron Saint of good weather and of the prevention of bad weather, especially for farmers and growers. And he is also often prayed to amidst storms and other times of violent weather.
Our card first appears in the original John Player Reference Book (RB.17) published in 1950. The description there is :
9. 50 ANIMALS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. Issued August, 1939, with special album.
A) Home issue, adhesive, with I.T.C. and Album clauses
B) Channel Islands issue, adhesive, without I.T.C. or Album clause
C) Irish Issue, non adhesive. With Exchange Scheme clause, large green numerals overprinted, and I.T.C. Clause.
Before I rocket on, the album cover actually shows our little mice. I will see if I can track down an image to insert here, but I am fairly certain that any internet auction will have at least one
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index, just six years later, all had changed, and the three sets had been parted from each other. The Irish version comes up first, because of the non-adhesive back, under section 2B. Then we get our set, under 2C, simply described as "ANIMALS OF THE COUNTRYSIDE. Sm. Nd. (50) See RB.17/9A". Lastly, some way further along, we find the Channel Islands set, under 3C, where it is also revealed that it was issued in Malta. And this version is even further away in the updated version, as section 4C, because there has been a new section added to take sets issued after 1965.