As befits our theme for this week, here we have Australian Football, or, more correctly, Aussie Rules, and W. Schmidt, described as the "centre" for St. Kilda. For any readers unfamiliar with this sport, a centre starts in the middle of the field and has two companions, called the wingmen, or wingers. I guess we call the centre a midfielder? These three stay together if they can, and try to push the ball down to the forwards, who are the ones that take it towards the goal mouth. Sometimes it helps if they are a bit what I shall call "rough and ready", so that they are more off-putting to the opposing team.
Our man`s full name was Louis William Schmidt, and he was born on the 29th of December 1887. His first team was the Richmond Football Club, from 1907, and therefore he can claim to be one of the few people who played for the same team in both the Victorian Football Association and the Victorian Football League. This is, before I dash on, "Victorian" meaning of the State of Victoria, not the Queen of England.
The Victorian Football Association was formed in 1877, but twenty years later its six top clubs got together and formed a league of their own, calling it the Victorian Football League, which must have been a bit galling. Those clubs were all from the Melbourne area, namely : Collingwood, Essendon, Fitzroy, Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne, and they soon invited fellow locals Carlton and St. Kilda to join them. Richmond, which is also a Melbourne team, joined in 1908.
Mr. Schmidt stayed with Richmond until 1911 and then moved to St Kilda, where he is shown on our card. He stayed there for just two years, until 1914, so I looked at the date and imagined he was on War Service - however it turns out he was suspended for ten months for hitting a player on the opposing team (Les Fairbairn of Geelong), and then he was also in trouble for swearing during his tribunal. I guess this all comes down to why he was such a good centre for the team. By this time there was not much left of 1915 ,and the sport was changed quite severely by the First World War, especially from 1916 when most of the players were on active service.
The War also directly affected our card, for St. Kilda is shown here in a strip of red, yellow and black, which was to both show sympathy with the Belgians, and to disassociate themselves with Germany, whose colours were red, white and black.
The few matches that did take place during the War were not League ones, they were entertainment, and morale boosting, and proceeds were given to war charities.The first teams to start playing seriously again afterwards were South Melbourne and Geelong, in 1917, but Melbourne took right until 1919 before it had its full complement of players and staff. St. Kilda, and our man, restarted in 1918, but he did not stay there for long, and from 1919 he played for several different clubs, and did some coaching.
Now the date of issue given, of 1922, for our set, is very interesting, because it is recorded that from 1919 to 1930, Mr. Schmidt was at Warracknabeal Football Club, as a coach. However, a bit more hunting has revealed that he did return to St. Kilda, for the 1920 season, as a player, so this must have been when this picture was drawn up. Then, in 1921, he moved, and played for Richmond, but he was in his mid thirties by then, and he admitted he was not as fit as once he was, so, after a short time, he returned to his coaching at Warracknabeal, and really seems to have thrown his heart into it, for they won the entire Wimmera Football League in 1921, and would win it twice more in the coming decade.
He died on 23 October 1975, leaving one child. His wife had died a while earlier.
This set first appears in our Australasian Miscellaneous Booklet, RB.20, published in 1951. The entry is a long one, for there are three sets, none of which are titled. As this is set 1.A, it will inherit the mantle of being the home page for all three of the sets.
The entry reads :
48. J.J. SCHUH`S ISSUES. The firm of J.J. Schuh, Pty., Ltd., was pushing sales of its "Magpie" Cigarettes during World War I, and was one of the chief competitors of Sniders & Abrahams. Card issues run from about 1920 to 1925. The firm was taken over by G.G. Goode in 1926. One card from each of the series known is illustrated at Fig.48
48.1. Australian Footballers (adopted title). Three series are known, two of which deal exclusively with players in the Victorian League, and one with players from this League and from the South Australian League.
Series A. Size 67 x 40 m/m. Fronts per Fig 48-1.A in colour, three-quarter to full length portraits. Backs in black, with name of player and position in team. Issued about 1922. Unnumbered series of 60. Victorian League players -
Series B. [ see our Card of the Day for the 23rd of July 2022] Size 66 x 40 m/m. Fronts per Fig.48-B in colour, head and neck studies in rays of Club Colours, captions at left base. Backs in black, with name of player and position in team. Issued about 1923. Numbered set of 40, Victorian League players.
Series C. Size 67 x 59 m/m. Fronts per Fig.48-C in colour, head and neck studies, in oval vignettes, with yellow surround. Player`s name at base, below vignette. Brown "Magpie" back, with name of player and position in team. Unnumbered series, in two groups as follows -
In our original World Tobacco Issues Index, published in 1956, the entry is much reduced. All it says is :
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALLERS (A). Sm. 66-67 x 39-40. ... S38-1
1. Known as "Series A". Half to full length portraits. Unnd. (60). See RB.20/48-1.A
2. Known as "Series B". Head and neck in rays of club colours. Nd. (40). See RB.20/48-1.B
3. Known as "Series C". Head and neck in oval frame. Unnd. See RB.20-48-1.C and X20/48-1.C.
(a) South Australian League Players. 30 known
(b) Victorian League Players. 27 known.
The X20 reference is in the back of the book, and it simply adds one new card, to Series C, namely "(b) Victorian League Players, add (27) M. Brown, South Melbourne.
The next book to mention this set is the Australian & New Zealand Index, RB.30, published in 1983. That reads :
S38-1.1 ... Australian Footballers "A". Half to full length. Victorian League players. (60). See RB.20/48-1.A
S38-1.2 ... Australian Footballers "B". Head and neck in rays of club colours. Victorian League players. Nd. (40). See RB.20/48-1.B
S38-1.3 ... Australian Footballers "C". Head and neck in oval frame.
(i) South Australian League Players. (30). See RB.20-48-1.C
(ii) Victorian League Players. (30). 26 listed under RB.20-48-1.C
add : 27. M. Brown, Sth Melbourne
28. C.O. Carr, St. Kilda
29. P. O`Brien, Carlton
30. M. Tandy, South Melbourne
There are no additions to this set in part II of that volume.
And the only change to the text from the original World Tobacco Issues Index to the updated version is that the four above cards have been added in to the total, making thirty cards each for the South Australian League Players and the Victorian League Players