So here we have the Island of Cuba where Cesar Romero`s family originated from – though he was born in New York. His father had been a sugar importer, also called Cesar Romero, whilst his mother, Maria Mantilla, was the natural daughter of the Cuban national José Martí, who was killed in the Battle of the Two Rivers in May 1895 whilst trying to liberate Cuba from its Spanish occupiers.
That leads me to the cards I really wanted here, but could not find, and strangely all of those are from “Geografico Universal” (or The History of Cuba) issued in 1915 with Henry Clay and Bock`s “Cigarros Susini y La Corona, Tabacalera Cubana” brand. One is a portrait of him, one shows his birthplace, and one is an action shot of the moment of his death (bit gloomy that one).
Now the full name of this company is “The Monastery Chocolate Factory of the Trappist Fathers at Aiguebelle”, which is in France. And I was going to research it but someone else has got there first and done an amazing job, even having photographs, so I will bow out gracefully and say nip along to Viva Chocolat - and, by the way, this site covers lots of chocolate makers. It’s well worth a visit, and, indeed, bookmarking, if those sort of cards fall into your area of interest.
I have drawn a blank at finding the year this was issued, or how many there are in this set, but this is the second set of d`Aiguebelle cards that I have listed and both seem to have twenty cards, or rather the list grows steadily until it gets to twenty and then the same ones keep coming back, but no more get added. But if you do know any more do send us the names. Some of the cards have "the" in front of them (L`, La, Las, Le, Les) but I have ignored those in the alphabetical order.
The cards in the set are :
- Les Baleares [the Balearics]
- Borneo
- Les Canaries
- Ceylan [Ceylon]
- Chypre [Cyprus]
- La Crete
- Cuba
- Formose [Formosa]
- L`Islande [Iceland]
- Java
- Jersey
- Madere [Madeira]
- Nouvelle Guinea [New Guinea]
- Nouvelle Zelande [New Zealand]
- Les Philippines
- Rhodes
- La Sardaigne [Sardinia]
- La Sicile [Sicily]
- Sumatra
- Terre Neuve [Newfoundland]