After the First World War, a set of nursery rhyme cards were issued by several makers. They had horizontal backs, and thick black borders around the fronts, which were brightly coloured images. Strangely, the issuer of today`s card, Goodwin`s Flour, was not amongst the issuers of that set, as far as we know. And yet they issued this one, in a very similar style, with the thick black borders and the brightly coloured images inside. Tellingly, too, this is called "Extra Rhymes - a Second Series of 24".", which definitely seems to point to them knowing of the other, and, maybe, to even issuing it.
This card was supplied by Malcolm Thompson, who is a keen researcher of Goodwins cards. He suggests that this "Extra" Rhymes set was not issued by any of the manufacturers who issued the first series, and that it must have been printed specially for the company in the mid 1920’s.
He also points out that the Goodwin`s sets are very collectable and informative, often featuring one subject on the front and another on the back of the same card; these sets are known as the "Composite Groupings", whereas our set falls under "Normal Series" . And there is additional interest because as different sets were issued the back designs changed - possibly because the mill also changed hands frequently, and to modernise the style. One thing that a lot of their advertising has in common is the bouncing baby logo, though, oddly, it does not appear on this set.
The set is first described in our original British Trade Index as :
D.W. GOODWIN & Co., Kidderminster
Flour Mills. Cards issued about 1923-38"EXTRA" RHYMES. Sm. 65 x 37. Inscribed "Second Series". Nd. (24) ... GOV-2
The cards known so far are :
- I saw three ships come sailing in
- The man in the moon
- Three Blind Mice
- There was an Old Woman Thrown up in a Basket
- Old Mother Goose
- My Little Old Man
- Merry are the Bells
- Crosspatch Draw the Latch
- two legs sit up on three legs
- The Queen of Hearts
Now I have been asked why I did not feature Fry`s 1917 set of "Nursery Rhymes" this week - but the answer is that we have already shown this charming card from that particular set, in our newsletter for the 3rd of December, 2022 as the diary card for Tuesday the 6th of December.
There are several other sets we could have shown too, including -
* Bassett - "Nursery Rhymes" (1966)
* Como - "Noddy`s Nursery Rhyme Friends" (1959)
* Edmondson - "Illustrated Rhymes & Phrases"
* Edmondson - "Pictures From the Fairy Stories"
* Typhoo - Tipps "Nursery Rhymes" (1914)