This is an unusual card for its time, because if you look closely you will see that it appears to be a match between Indians, see the man in a turban, and Europeans, though most probably British. Most of the other sets and cards of polo seem to gloss over any mention of India, and yet it was not us who introduced it to them, but the other way around. In fact the word "pulu" is also Indian, and it refers to the wooden ball that is struck during play.
Though it is often recorded that the game was first played in India in the early 1600s, modern investigations, and discoveries of early texts, can now date right back to a time of the gods, one of whom was known as the winged pony god, from a place called Manipur. Now Manipur has long been regarded as the birthplace of Indian polo, and the oldest polo ground in the world, the Imphal, is not surprisingly located in Manipur State, it reputedly was first used for the game in AD 33. Another curious fact about the area is that there is a particular breed of pony, there which is quite small, at only thirteen hands high. It seems therefore that the locals learned to play the game on the small native ponies and so, to this day, that is probably why small ponies have become the mount of choice - though today they are bred specifically and are more like miniature thoroughbreds than hardy native ponies.
Sadly we do not know much about this issuer, though the cards tell us that they were at numbers 3 and 5, Devonshire Street, London E.C.2. - and there is a bit more information in our "Directory of British Issues", reference book RB.7, published in 1946, which reads :
MIRANDA LTD.
130 New North Road, London N.1.
(See also entry under Challis)
Previously : 3-5 Devonshire Street, Bishopsgate, London E.C.2.
"De Sefi", "Planters", "Miranda`s Dream".
Now taking this in order, the first three lines can be explained by the fact that R. S. Challis & Co. Ltd., of 130 New North Road, in London, bought Miranda Ltd and then they both shared the same address. Challis enjoyed buying up other companies, including the East London firm of Burstein, Isaacs & Co (which they bought in 1935), and H. W. Drapkin - though there is uncertainty as to whether the firms of R. & E. Boyd Ltd and Strathmore Tobacco were companies that they bought or just names that they created.
The line at the bottom are brands. I have been unable to find "De Sefi", but "Planters" was definitely continued by Challis after they assumed control. There was also "Everyman`s", "Lucky Dream", "Piccadilly G.T.", "Scented Lily", "Velvet", and Zaria". However it is possible that none of these issued cards. As for "Miranda`s Dream", this was one of their best sellers, along with "Ashes of Ambar", both of which were tipped cigarettes, either silk tipped, cork tipped, plain tipped, or what was described as "rose petals". "Miranda`s Dream" had one of the most enticing tins of all time, a lady sporting a long string of pearls reclines languidly in a chair, with a cigarette at a jaunty angle in a long black holder, whilst above, to her left, a dancing girl entertains a seated Indian Prince.
Despite all these brands, they only issued two sets - a set of 20 "Dogs" and this set of "Sports and Pastimes", which is described in our original World Tobacco Issues Index as :
SPORTS AND PASTIMES.Sm. 67 x 36. Nd. (25). See H.225 ...M116-2
Now that H.225 sends us to the handbook, but in this case there is a main listing for this set, and all its permutations, with the Taddy version, which is probably the most famous of them all, and which was Card of the Day on the fourth of February 2022. Or rather there will be a main listing in a minute, I am just working on that at the same time as this...