That was a surprise, wasn`t it? You expected the Wills` "Star and Circle Back". But more about that later
Lets start with the reason why we have a drummer, which may not seem to fit our theme of natural music, but, in case you did not know, when you make a rhythmic tapping sound with your fingers on a table or similar surface you are said to "drum" your fingers. By the way it makes a different noise depending on the length of your fingernails, short nails make a muffled noise, whilst long nails make a louder sound, and have the ability to scrape and swoosh for added emphasis at certain points. And if you want to grow your nails, such rhythmic tapping is supposed to encourage the nail bed to put forth more effort and strength. But I sadly do not know whether they named the drum after the action, or the action after the drum.
Now I think that this card is in contention for the longest top line details ever, but maybe also the most fun, because, yes, we, or more correctly, our London Branch produced this card. And now I also get to add it to the London Branch home page, and link back to here. If you still have your own card, presented in 1985, well done. I bought this one, on eBay, which must mean it was a bargain, but, if you were the seller, see, I kept it safely, and still treasure it.
Now you may not know this but quite a few of our Branches and clubs produced single cards, or sets, for special events. I know of a few, but not all. However some, like this one, are listed in the British Trade Index, which is where, in part 3, this CCM-1 code comes from. So one day when I have nothing to do, or, more likely, am trying to find something to occupy my broken heart, I will work through and get at least the titles uploaded.
The write up in there for this card is :
The Cartophilic Society of Great Britain Ltd. Publishers of this volume. Cards issued in the 1980s.
"1935-1985 - 50 Years of Cartophily" 68 x 36. Reproduction of subject "England - Drummer, Coldstream Guards" from Wills set W/13. Presented to members present at Golden Jubilee meeting of London Branch on 28th September 1985".
Now two things need to be mentioned at this point. The first is the identity of W/13, which is "Soldiers of the World", and the second is that if anyone out there has this card from that original set, and could scan front and back we would be most happy to add it in as a comparison, because there are differences, most notably the "Wills Cigarettes" on the original bottom line, which is not present here.
The following two scans come from our Cartophilic Notes and News magazine
This one came first, in Volume 13, No.133, September/October 1985, and it simply shows the reverse of the card in black and white - though in 1985 colour was a scarcity in our magazine - plus a line of type, which for some reason was sideways, rather than beneath.
There was another one in the next edition, Volume 13, No.134, November/December 1985, but it is rather unwieldy at the moment so I might fettle with it and see if it cannot be altered so that all the text is on the left and the card, reduced, on the right. Stick with me on that one.