Gutermann & Co started as a silk mill, in Vienna, in 1867, and quite easily moved into more modern artificial threads as they were invented. However silk thread is still widely regarded as the best to use in sewing as the texture is so fine that when it pierces through the material being sewn, that material closes around it as it passes. An inferior thread leaves a mark, and never lays so smoothly.
Recently they have introduced a range of threads which are more sustainable, using natural dyes, and cutting waste and emissions throughout their many worldwide factories.
This set is available in two formats, with the red overprint of the company name, and without. The overprint may have been because without it the cards are anonymous, hence not so great for advertising purposes - the words "Soie a Coudre" that are overprinted as the top two lines translate to mean silk thread, for either hand or machine use. The cards are dual language, one on each side of the central line, French and Dutch is showing here.
Archimedes, the subject of this card, was born in Sicily in about 287 B.C. and he has many claims o mathematics fame, not only the discovery of pi and the best ways to calculate the volume and surface area of any spherical object, but also gave us the Archimedes Principal, that any object being plunged into liquid displaces an equal volume to that which the object has.
Most relevant to the numeracy test, he also invented the mileometer, a device which can measure, accurately, the distance that any wheeled vehicle has travelled, either on a single trip, or continuously over its lifetime.