Now the clue here was pretty obvious if you knew the other two, for what we were after was the basket, which, in this case, was a fishing creel.
This set is made up of many parts, and our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists them as :
- NOVELTIES - TYPE 1 (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thick, no border. Unnd. (25). Ref. USA/228-1. ... K32-17
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 2. (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thin, coloured border. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey. Unnd. (50). Ref. USA/228-2. ... K32-18
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 3 to 5. (A). Unnd. See ABC/228. ... K32-19
A. Type 3. Die cut to shape. Ref USA/228-3
(a) Inscribed “25 Styles” (25)
(b) Inscribed “50 Styles” (50)
(c) Inscribed “75 Styles” (75)
B. Type 4. Die cut to shape and embossed. Inscribed “50 Styles” (50) Ref USA/228-4
C. Type 5. Small Card Type. 73 x 40. (50)/ Ref USA/228/5- NOVELTIES – TYPE 6 (A). Oval, 65 m/m long. Inscribed “125 Styles”. About 5 seen. Designs partly on set D76-30. Ref. USA/228-6 ... KT32-20
D76-30 is under Duke, 28 Miniature Novelties, but more about those later.
Jefferson Burdick used the section system, very similarly, in his American Card Catalog too, as follows :
228. Novelties
- Type 1 - Round (1 5/8 in) thick, no border (25) … .25 cents a card
- Type 2 - Round (1 5/8 in) thin, coloured border (50) diff. .... .10 cents a card
May be collected with red, blue, or gray backs.
- Type 3 – Irregular die cut to shape (75) … .10 cents a card
Girl’s head on object. May read 25, 50, or 75 subjects
- Type 4 – Irregular die cut to shape, embossed (50) … .15 cents a card
- Type 5 – Small card shape (50) … .15 cents a card
Types 4 and 5 show the same 50 as the type 3 designs
- Type 6 – Irregular die cut, marked “125 Subjects” … a dollar a card
Irreg. or egg shape (partly shown on set 120).
Set 120, to save you looking, is under “Large Cards”, and the text there reads :
- 120. Miniature Novelties (26) 2 to card … .35
The small design mostly as Kinney No. 228.3. See set 228.6
What it does not have this book is any link to Duke, which I find rather curious.
Now in our updated World Tobacco Issues Index this set is also in sections, but there are some differences, namely :
- NOVELTIES - TYPE 1 (A). Thick, no border. Unnd. (25). Ref. USA/228-1. ... K524-295
A. Circular, 40 m/m diameter. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey
B. Square, 45 x 45. Back in blue. (1 known)
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 2. (A). Circular, 40 m/m diam. Thin, coloured border. Back in (a) red (b) blue (c) grey. 25 with and 25 without “50 Subjects”. Unnd. (50). Ref. USA/228-2. .... K524-300
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 3 to 5. (A). Unnd. ... K524-305
A. Type 3. Die cut to shape. Ref USA/228-3
(a) Inscribed “25 Styles” (26 known)
(b) Inscribed “50 Styles” (50)
(c) Inscribed “75 Styles” (75)
B. Type 4. Die cut to shape and embossed. Inscribed “50 Styles” (50) Ref USA/228-4.
C. Type 5. Small Card Type. 73 x 40. (50)/ Ref USA/228/5
- NOVELTIES – TYPE 6 (A). Oval, 65 m/m long. Inscribed “125 Styles”. (14). Designs based partly on set D900-280. Ref. USA/228-6 ... K524-310
We wrote about the Duke set, which is called "Miniature Novelties", in our newsletter of the 20th of April 2024, as the diary date card for Monday, the 22nd April. They use the same images but give a background, and a card mate, and, as shown here, the other subject is the ear of corn.
The corn is one of the first series, marked "25 STYLES - ONE IN EACH PACKAGE OF CIGARETTES".
The fishing creel was in that first set of twenty-five as well but it seems to mostly turn up marked with "75 STYLES" on the reverse. At first I thought that might be because it was in all three sets, in other words issued three times - but after research the corn turns out to have also been in all three sets