Now our card today remembers the Drachma, currency of Greece, another one with a very long story - and although it is often said that this began in 1833, if you were to jump in a time machine and travel back to sixth century ancient Greece, you would find that their coinage was also drachmas, and that every state was allowed to mint their own, using symbols unique to them. But before that, the drachma was also used as a kind of currency, for it meant a bundle of arrows or rods, and these were the first tools used for bartering, before the coin was even thought of.
When I revealed the front of this card I had no idea that a reader was going to supply the next one, a cunning variation. And when I revealed the front of that one, I was able to turn it into a "spot the difference" teaser for the New Year. Well, to put you out of your misery, there are two main differences, one per side. First up, to the bottom of the front of this card you will only find one line wording in black which tells the name of the Country, and describes the scene - whereas on tomorrow`s card there is a second line of printing, in red, which reads "Edition de la CHOCOLATERIE d`AIGUEBELLE (Drome)". And second, below the descriptive text on the reverse of this card, there is a vacant space, but tomorrow`s has been filled with an advertisement.
Today we are fairly sure that what happened (and it is quite common with Continental cards, as well as with early American Trade cards) is that a commercial traveller, reprsenting the printer, would go around to businesses and show them a black card, and tell of how easy it would be to have their company name along the bottom, and their advertisement in the empty space behind, sure to bring in new business in order for them to collect the whole set. And often the business would agree.As far as the printer was concerned, especially if a bulk lot was printed up as blanks, it was a good way of making money, for each new business would be billed for the complete job, but the only ink used would be for the overprinting, hence extra profit for the printer.
As for why there are blanks out there, there are two schools of thought, and the truth is that both are valid. Sometimes the unused blanks were just hanging about, and the printer sold them off, or gave them to his friends - whilst other times a business liked the cards, but ummed and ahhed, not wanting to pay for having the addition of their name, and, if the commercial traveller was a canny one, he would offer a cut price deal for just the blanks, and often the business would agree. Though to collectors this is a bad thing, for there is no way to tell how many companies did issue the set, or from which regions they came.