Card of the Day - 2024-08-17

De Beukelaer All Sport
Anonymous / De Beukelaer [trade : biscuits : O/S - Germany] "All Sports" (1932) - BEU-040 : ZJ5-21 : D102-5.3

This card has nothing to do with the maker, or the player`s first name or surname. It is here because of his team, Blackburn ROVERS, and that ought to have given you the dog connection, Rover being a common name for a dog, once upon a time, and was even used as such by William Shakespeare in "A Winter`s Tale". It actually seems to refer to the fact that a dog, especially a hunting dog, is a wanderer, or a roamer, over a wide area. 

Sadly Rover seems no longer to make the grade and it is nowhere on the Blue Cross list of popular doggy names. It does appear in a poll for Rover.com as being the fourth most popular name for a mixed breed though. 

This set first appears in our British Trade Index part II, but not under De Beukelaer, unless you follow the clues, because that listing is headed by : "De Beukelaer. Biscuits. Cards issued in 1930s. Most issues are Anonymous, see Sets ZJ4-15-2 and ZJ5-21." 

Turning to the back of the book we find our set is the second of these, and the listing reads : 

SET ZJ5-21. ALL SPORTS (A). Min 50 x 28. Portraits of Sportsmen, caption in panel at base followed by number. Black photos, many now found in shades of brown. Nd. (100). Issued by De Beukelaer. See D102-5-3. Special album issued. .. ZJ5-21.

The D102 code is also at the back of the book, and it covers anonymous miniature cards. Section 5.3 reads :

5.3 - Miniature. 50 x 28 m/m. Semi glossy photos in black or shades of brown. "All Sports" caption, followed by number in panel at base, viz. "F.  J. Perry, 77". Nd. 1/100. Issued by De Beukelaer. Set ZJ5-21.

Now in our updated British Trade Index the set is restored amongst its De Beukelaer stable mates, but there is also a bit of a surprise in the heading, which reads : "De Beukelaer. Wafer biscuits. Issued in 1930s-50s, in U.K. by Watford Biscuit Co." So I reckon I might need to change the issuing country above? The catalogue of our set reads :

ALL SPORTS (A). 1932. 50 x 28. Portraits of Sportsmen. Nd. (100). Caption, followed by number, in base panel. Black semi-glossy photos. Anonymous. ... BEU-040