Now this was a bit of a wild card clue because it refers to the fact that when James VI wanted a printing press, he was not entirely thinking of poems and prose. For his main intention was to draw up, and have printed, official, legal documents and laws, which would eventually entirely replace the ones that were currently used in Scotland.
To this day, Scottish law, and government, is different, and it must be said that it incorporates a much better blend of what is needed for success, and what is wanted for fairness. This could well be because these laws started out by being developed all alone, as an offshoot of Roman laws.
Hence we have this card.
Now I don`t know much about this set, but it is most unusual, and also rather creepy.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index tell us that it actually comes in two sizes, and list them as :
- THE "SMILER" SERIES. Caricatures, mouths inscribed "Nut Flake Cigarettes". ... S72-22
A. Small, 67-68 x 37. Back with series title, inscribed "This Series Consists of 24 cards." Nos. 1/12 only issued.
B. Large, 82 x 56, rounded corners. Backs with caricature of "Nut Flake" smoker only, no series title. Nd. (12)
I have returned to this page because I just used one of those large cards, as the Card of the Day for the 8th of March 2026 and it is quite different, as although the large cards use the same characters as on our cards, the verse from our reverse, and the number, is now squeezed in below the picture, instead of "What`s the Joke?". I am not entirely sure why, because the reverse is then rather wasted, being entirely filled with a caricature of a be-suited man, smoking a cigarette, and words in white within his mouth. In fact, though, despite the heading of the set in the World Tobacco Issues Index saying "mouths inscribed "Nut Flake Cigarettes" the wording inside the mouth is actually more than that, and it actually says "Nut Flake Pure Virginia Cigarettes", but the words "Pure" and "Virginia" are so crammed in the centre of the mouth that they are almost invisible - you only know they are there if you look closely at the small sized cards we feature today, which have the large black and white logo on the reverse.