Card of the Day - 2024-03-07

Hignett ships flags cap badges
Hignett Bros. & Co. [tobacco : UK : Liverpool] “Ships Flags & Cap Badges” A Series (1926) 5/25 – H536-340.1 : H44-38.1 : RB.21/217-178.C

I had never seen this set before, and it is a real beauty. It also contains a bit of a puzzle, because if you look at the woven badge the initials on there are R.N.L.B.I. and I have not come across that elsewhere whilst researching of the story of the R.N.L.I. 

The text here tells us that this is a Coxswain`s badge, but nothing about the first lifeboats, hence it is placed in third; it starts instead with the fact that “This Institution was founded in 1824, when it was known as the National Lifeboat Institution, the title of Royal being added in 1898.”

Now this set was issued in the final years before Hignett was merged in with Ogdens Ltd. 

Our World Tobacco Issues Indexes both catalogue it as : 

SHIPS FLAGS & CAP BADGES. Sm. Nd. See RB.21/217-178.C.
1. “A Series of 25”
2. “2nd Series of 25”

That RB.21 reference is intriguing though, because it leads to the British American Tobacco reference book, so it means the set was also issued overseas. And the text in there reads :

217-178. SHIPS FLAGS & CAP BADGES. The series was issued as follows :-
A. Player Overseas Issue. Series of 50.
B. Anonymous Issue, with letterpress on back (1) “A Series of 25,” (2) “2nd Series of 25”.
C. Hignett Home Issue (1) “A Series of 25,” (2) “2nd Series of 25”.

The front index adds that the John Player version was issued in 1930 in New Zealand, whilst the anonymous one was issued through B.A.T. in the same year, but that whilst the first series went to Malaya and the Channel Islands, the second was not, that was only sent to the Channel Islands.

However, the crucial name here is John Player, who have one of the original reference books devoted to their cards. And in there we find a proper description of what is our set, just with a different issuer`s details, which is :

178. SHIPS FLAGS & CAP BADGES. Small cards. Fronts in colour. Backs in grey, with descriptive text; two grades of board : a) white, b) cream. Overseas issue, about 1930. Similar series issued by Hignett.