So we started with our regular Saturday Soccer Star, and this week we nipped over to Germany, for a spot of thrilling matchplay. But what we were after was the nickname of one of the teams, shown, Alemannia, which is "Kartoffel-Kafer" because they play in striped yellow and black jerseys. And this is the colour of a pest to local farmers, the Kartoffel--Kafer, or potato beetle.
And as an extra link, June bugs are actually Kafers too, or, in English, chafers. They are also double trouble, because the adults feed on vegetation, finding leaves especially tasty, whilst they lay their eggs underground so that when the young hatch they will be able to sustain themselves on the young and tender roots that they will almost immediately encounter beneath the soil. Another plant of choice is grass, which is probably the most plentiful species in most gardens.
Now Erdal was a manufacturer of shoe polish, from Mainz in Germany. The slogan on the bottom of the card is "Fur Fein Farbige Schuhe Erdal Flussig!". The first four words mean "For Fine Coloured Shoes", then "Erdal" is the maker`s name. However "Flussig", which I thought meant "polish" turns out to mean "liquid" or "free flowing". So it must have been an early form of liquid shoe polish. It was advertised as lasting longer and looking more beautiful for longer. And the ingredients seem to be mainly balsam and turpentine oil.
Now in another twist I thought Erdal was the maker, but it turns out to be the brand, and it was first retailed in 1901. Sometimes you will see it called "Erdal Rottfrosch", especially on their card albums, and their tins and that refers to their logo, which was a frog, on a square of carpet, with a crown perched on his head. This was usually printed in red, hence the "Rottfrosch", which simply means the "red frog", though often he is described as the Frog Prince.
They produced many sets of cards, including military ones, during the First World War. These were usually branded as "Erdal-Kwak", because "Kwak" was another of their brands, polish for floors. There was also "Blendol" which was metal polish, and that too is sometimes mentioned on the backs of their cards..
The albums were more like books, and the text was worked around empty spaces with framelines in which the cards were to be stuck. In these times they were not stickers, nor pre glued, you had to find your own glue.