Now though this set is not mentioned in our British Trade Index part II, RB.27, whilst others are, the header for those is interesting, and reads : "ISSUES WITH ROUNDED CORNERS. Issued in North America by Brooke Bond Canada Ltd., and Brooke Bond Tea Co. Inc. Small size 68 x 37 m/m."
Of course the reason why it is not listed there is simply that this volume was published in 1969, and our set was not issued until 1971.
This was sorted out in part III, published in 1986, where it is listed, with the English title only, as "Series 14. Exploring the Oceans. Nd. (48). Issued 1971."
Now I have had a bit of correspondence with Malcolm Thomson over this set. He says that the series was probably inspired by exhibits at the Expo '67 held in Montreal, particularly the large tank where visitors could see diving demonstrations and inventions inspired by Jacques Cousteau who fronted a ten-year TV series between 1966 and 1976 popularising underwater exploration. That Expo actually marked the Confederation of Canada`s Centenary, but that was coincidence, and a lucky one too, for the event had been planned to take part in Moscow. I do wonder what would have happened if it had been the Moscow Expo - this set may never have been printed for one thing. Jacques Cousteau, of course, was French, but there is a certain affinity between France and Canada which would have made him very popular there. He also provided much of the material for his exhibit from his own collection and archive.
Now this was the first Brooke Bond set ever to feature Oceanography and was a part of the company's marketing policy to highlight and educate about ecological conservation issues. You can read this in the scan below, which comes from the introduction to the album.
Now this set was only issued in Canada (where there was both this album and a wall chart) but its success almost certainly inspired our 1974 set "The Sea-Our Other World".
Finally there is a really interesting reference in an article in the L.C.C.C. magazine, issue no.924, where Mr. Wells writes :
"the cards -with their unique rounded corners and high gloss finish were indeed unique. The phrase 'high gloss finish raises some questions. Brooke Bond themselves spoke of the development of a fine playing card' finish applied to sets; another source suggests the experimental coatings known as 'Lustrecoat' and 'Mirror-coat' were applied to cards in the 1960s"
Both Mr. Thompson, and now I, wonder if any collectors have evidence of the existence of these differences in card finish in the oceanography set? And if they do, is there a simple way to tell? Do let us know, please...
And by the way this is the front, so you can take part even if your cards are stuck to an album or wallchart.