So here was clue number two to this week`s theme - and they were a bit cryptic this week! The clue here was the rocking horse, for if you look at most rocking horses they have the same stance as are featured in those early, pre-Muybridge engravings of horse racing which show the front and back legs all extended at the same time.
Now in the rocking horse there is actually a really good reason for constructing them like this and that is stability, because the child sits on the saddle exactly half way through the horse and the legs stretch out to support them.
So this is Henry, or Little Henry, and this is the American version of the set which was also issued by J. Wix - which we featured in our 30th of April newsletter last year. Always good to be able to show other variations.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index tells us quite a lot about this set, including the fact that American Tobacco Company may have been from America, this set was issued in the United Kingdom. It is described as
HENRY. Md. 63 x 48 (79 known) Brand Issues. See ABC/T.78 and Ha.625. Ref USA/T.78.
A) Back inscribed "Tareyton`s finer quality"
B) Back inscribed "A cork tip..." followed by :
a) ...doesn`t get soggy
b) ...doesn`t stick to the lips
c) ...resists lipstick
Now the last one is rather odd, at that time, and makes me think it was a brand whose marketing was designed to appeal to ladies. Something to investigate.
By the way, the Burdick catalogue, from where the T.78 reference comes, calls the set "Little Henry" but only values it at five cents a card.
When our World Tobacco Issues Index was updated the top half of the description remained the same. However a new back had been found so the entry for B) above was slightly changed to read :
c) ...is always firm
d) ...resists lipstick
Then, in the modern, updated handbook, there is another addition changing the end once more, to :
c) ...is always firm
d) ...prevents loose ends
e) ...resists lipstick
This handbook also includes photographs of the Wix version of the cards, and our card also appears in them as Series 2, card 8. Now we know that the American Tobacco set was a selection from the five Wix sets - or eight if you count different sizes, brands and printings, and it is rather fun to think that ours was one of just nine from this second set that was selected to appear in the American Tobacco Version.