Our subject, coal, is vital to Europe Day, for the Schuman Declaration set out to stop one nation taking control of coal, and steel, by which means they could once more go to war. Though the "nation" was unstated, the declaration was written just five years after the end of the Second World War, and much of Europe was still floundering amidst the rubble.
Therefore, the European Coal and Steel Community would take over as a head, and insist that every member jwould agree to share in the production, the distribution, and the profits, for there was a subsidiary effect too, or so they hoped; that the poorer countries would be able get back on their feet more quickly.
The E.C.S.C. started small, with just six founding members: Belgium, France, Germany (or, more correctly, at that time, West Germany, the East still being controlled by the non-European U.S.S.R or Russia), Italy, Luxembourg. and the Netherlands.
This card really demonstrates the claustrophobic conditions in which coal is mined, under ground, in narrow passages, where your head scrapes the roof. Even worse is that this machine, the electric coal cutter, drills not entirely for coal; it has the capability to drill a slot at the base of the seam where the coal lies. Then explosive charges are pushed in above, and this, if all goes well, releases the coal that it might be collected. Or the men are never seen again.
This set is first described in The London Cigarette Card Company`s “Cigarette Card News” dated August 1937 (Vol.4, No.46). This reads :
This Mechanized Age. 50 small cards. As good, if not better, than the first which is certainly one of the very best sellers among modern production. Glossy finish in full colour.
It next appears in our original reference book to the issues of Godfrey Phillips (RB.13 – published in 1949). That entry reads :
THIS MECHANIZED AGE. Small cards, size 67 x 37 m/m. Fronts printed by letterpress in colour, glazed. Backs in grey, with descriptive text. There are two series : -
142. First Series of 50. Home and export issue 1936. (a) White card, no adhesive wording (b) Cream card, inscribed “This surface is adhesive”.
143. Second Series of 50. Home and export issue 1937. Inscribed “This surface is adhesive”.
Both series with the adhesive wording are found with this inscription but without the adhesive gum.
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, it appears as :
THIS MECHANIZED AGE. Sm. Nd. … P50-130
1. “First Series”. Back (a) with (b) without inscription “This surface is adhesive”. (50)
2. “Second Series” Back inscribed “This surface is adhesive”. (50)
Our updated World Tobacco Issues Index has exactly this same text, just a different code.