Now here we have The Royal Navy, the pride of all British Fighting Forces, and envy of the World, and also British sailors, who are world renowned as being the most skilful, and also the best at adapting what they have at hand in a crisis to save the day, There are examples of this throughout the card-world. However, there is also a direct cartophilic link to two companies that issued cigarette cards - Gallaher Ltd and J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd. Their story is entwined, for in 1925 J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd started to issue "Senior Service" branded cigarettes, named directly after the nickname of the Royal Navy.
Now why it was called that was because it was the oldest military force in Britain. You may wonder at this, because surely the Army came first, but if you think about it the Army only had any use after the opposing forces were on our land. If we wanted to go and fight them, we had to first cross the water which surrounds our shores.
In 1937, Gallaher Ltd acquired J.A. Pattreiouex Ltd, and used the Senior Service brand. For some reason, they were chosen by Ian Fleming as the brand of choice for his secret agent, James Bond, and they appear in several novels, these being Goldfinger (1959), Thunderball (1961), The Spy Who Loved Me (1962), and The Man With The Golden Gun (1965). It may seem strange to younger readers that the hero smoked, because today it is way more likely to be the villain who does that, and the hero who does not. Such is the way that the world changed, without us.
Now the date of this set, just pre-Second World War, means that it is also propaganda, and that is why you get cards showing what fun it is, for recruiting purposes, as well as the serious military side, to frighten any enemies who got hold of the cards. In addition these photographs were direct from the War Department themselves, and reportedly they wanted control over the texts as well.
This set is listed in our original reference book to Ardath (RB.6), published in 1943, as :
May 1938. 50. LIFE IN THE SERVICES (titled series). Size 1 7/8” x 2 11/16”. Numbered 1-50. Printed in 2 colours, blue and black, from half-tone blocks, titled, white margins, varnished. Backs printed in bronze-blue, with descriptions, adhesive. Issued with State Express and Ardath Cigarettes. Also issued in Jersey. Issued abroad February, 1938, and to H.M. Ships in April 1938.
Dec.1937. 50. LIFE IN THE SERVICES. As above but not adhesive. Issued in New Zealand.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index, and the updated version, simply lists this as :
LIFE IN THE SERVICES. Sm. Blue-black. Nd.
A. Adhesive back. Home issue
B. Non-adhesive back. Export issue.
So “A” must cover all the issues listed in the first paragraph, and “B” refer to the New Zealand version. I am sad, for that is a lot of information deleted, and if you do not have the original Ardath Reference Book, lost to you forever, including the curious date order to where the cards were issued.