The Harrison Line, shown on our card, and also known as T. & J. Harrison, was founded in 1853 by two Lancashire brothers, Thomas and James Harrison. They had arrived in Liverpool to work for George Brown, and he was an importer of French brandy, for the most part, and also wine.
When George Brown died, the brothers either were left, or bought, the company, and continued to import the brandy. It seems to have been a lucrative enterprise, and got better in January 1860 when Britain and France signed the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty. This was the first ever free trade agreement, which removed tariffs on wines, spirits, and coal, amongst other things, and it not only directly affected the import of the brandy, but allowed for the brothers to buy two new coal-powered steamships to transport their cargoes. They also started offering passenger trips, and to expand their operations to India and the Caribbean.
By 1871 the brothers were listed as the managers, not the owners, and the ships were part of the Charente Steamship Company - however Tonnay-Charente was the name of the port which handled the brandy, in fact all the brandy which was produced in the town of Cognac. This makes it sound as if perhaps it was more of a name change than an ownership one, but also there must be some reason why.
Many of their ships saw service in the two World War, and almost sixty ships were lost during the two. After the Second World War their ships were used to recover men from overseas, and also to carry equipment and men to rebuild some of the infrastructure in the most affected coastal countries. The 1960s and 1970s saw the passenger fleet overtake the cargo for the first time, but they found themselves edged out of the market by the larger lines, which offered much more amenities. And it became part of P & O in the year 2000.
There is a bit of debate as to the issue month of this set, for whilst the London Cigarette Card catalogues, which date before our Churchman booklet, and several other early catalogues, show it as having been issued in February 1911, it is listed in our original Churchman reference book, published in 1948, as :
60. Sept 1911. 50. FLAGS AND FUNNELS OF LEADING STEAMSHIP LINES (titled series). Size 2 11/16" x 1 7/16" or 67 x 36 m/m. Numbered 1-50. Fronts, lithographed in colour. Backs in blue, with descriptions. Printed by Mardon, Son & Hall. Also issued by Davies and Ogden.
The "Davies" cited here is W.T. Davies & Sons, of Chester.
We are certain that the Ogdens version was issued in February 1906, but we already featured that as the Card of the Day for the 19th of December 2022 - however if we find more evidence that this version was not issued in February there is nothing to prevent us finding that card in the Churchman version and this one in the Ogdens and swopping them over.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists the Churchman version without any date of issue, just as :
FLAGS AND FUNNELS OF LEADING STEAMSHIP LINES. Sm. Nd. (50). See H.67. ... C82-19
And the text is identical in our updated World Tobacco Issues index, except for a new code, of C504-260.
We do know, though it is not mentioned in any of these books, that there is an error noted on card 33 of this Churchman issue, that being that the flag is on two masts. Now that is something that only a seaman would know, so I have a sneaking suspicion that we can credit Aylmer Maurice Rundle for this discovery!