Card of the Day - 2023-12-29

Lambert Butler Winter Sports
Lambert & Butler [tobacco : UK] “Winter Sports” (1914) 20/25 – L073-265 : L8-29 : L/98 [RB.9/98]

This is a Toboggan Cycle Race, and the description tells us that it is “a novel form of sport enjoyed by some of the more adventurous spirits at Murren, one of the newer Swiss winter resorts.” It goes on to say that “… the feet of the rider serve as brakes, and aid in steering.”  

We have discovered that the first hotel was built in 1857 but it was not very accessible from far away, indeed the only way in was by foot or by mule. Then in 1891 a mountain railway was built. It is recorded that the first British tourists arrived in 1911. However it took until 1924, a decade after this card first popped up in the packet, for the first ski club to be set up.

Murren has another claim to fame, because its revolving restaurant featured in a James Bond film.

And today it is completely car free. So maybe this mode of transport is ripe for re-discovery?

This set first appears in our original Lambert and Butler reference book RB.9, published in 1948, where it is described as : 

98. 25. WINTER SPORTS. Fronts printed by letterpress, 4-colour half-tone process. Backs in green, with descriptions. 1914

In our World Tobacco Issues Indexes it is simply described as “WINTER SPORTS. Sm. Nd. (25)