This card shows the original "Marathon".
A & M Wix `s “Speed Through The Ages”, card 77/250, may show someone rather unsuitably dressed for for such an event - but the reverse tells the story very well, even given the limitations of having to say it in two different languages on the bi-lingual version (though it was also issued with an English only back). It tells us that this sporting event was based on a real feat of endurance, when during the Greek-Persian Wars the Athenians sent a runner back to Athens to tell of the victory. The runner`s name was Pheidippides, and he did indeed run all the way, but whether or not he delivered his message is unclear as he fell dead at the gates from exhaustion. The distance he had run was twenty-six miles, and that is where we get the duration of the modern race, which you can read more about in our newsletter for the 3rd of October 2021.
There has already been lots more information coming in about this card, not least the fact that we have been able to establish that the "Phoscao" who we originally cited as the issuer, is actually a brand, belonging to A. Dardanne et Fils (or Messrs. A. Dardanne and Sons) and they actually said on their advertising that they were "Docteurs et Pharmacis". Their tins show that they were based at 12 Rue de la Tour-des-Dames, and then (or maybe also) at 1 Rue Francoise - both of these being in Paris
Phoscao is actually a kind of chocolate powder, though it was sold as being a restorative remedy for all kinds of complaints and maladies. The name is also used in Haiti, for a drink made from corn, which is naturally sweet, and cocoa - and it comes from the area of Les Cayes. Now Haiti was a French colony, and it is probable that Haitians would have relocated to Paris, which leads to suspicions that Messrs. Dardanne may have come across the drink, rather than invented it, and slightly altered the name, or maybe only heard it.
Now this set is one of those which often turns up with a large blank section on the reverse, and this is because it was toted round by a printer`s rep, and offered to many companies. There are also two versions by Phoscao - ours, and one which says at the bottom "Phoscao-Bebe Aliment Ideal des Enfants". Therefore it was also issued by other makers - and so far we know of :
- Bon Point
- A. Bury, Lille - "Cachets Pyral"
- A. Dardanne & Fils "Phoscao"
- Chocolat Poulain
- Maison H. Turlure
- "Ouataplasme" du Docteur Langlebert, Paris
- Ville de Lyon
As far as the cards in the set, I originally said they were un-numbered, and this is true of most of the versions but I have now been told that the Chocolat Poulain cards actually are numbered, on the reverse, where it also reveals that it is a set of twenty five cards.
- Vercingetorix se rendant a Cesar
- Samson détruit le Temple de Dagon
- Judas embrassant le Christ au jardin des Oliviers
- Moise faisant jaillir la source du rocher dans du desert
- Cesar franchit le Rubicon
- Alexandre le grand enfant domptant le cheval Bucephale
- Cincinnatus recevant aupres de sa charrue les du egues du Senat Romain
- Le Coureur de Marathon annonce la Victoire des Grecs sur les Perses
- Jeanne d`Arc reconnait le roi au milieu de ses courtesans
- St.Genevieve arrete les Parisiens effrayes par l`affroche s`Attila
- Saint Martin partageant son manteau avec un pauvre
- Clovis et la vase de Soissons
- Charles VI arrêté par un fou dans la foret du Mans
- Roland sonnant le cor a Roncevaux
- David vainqueur le Goliath
- Dévouement des Bourgeois de Calais
- Le Marechal Ney au passage de la Berezina
- Bonaparte entrainant les troupes sur le pont d`Arcole
- Christophe Columb plante le croix sur le nouveau monde
- L`Etat Major Autrichien saluant le corps de Marceau
- Jean-Bart prisonnier menace de faire sauter la fregate
- Louis XVI se coiffant du bonnet rouge
- Charles Quint ramasse la pinceau du Titian
we do know the titles of the missing two just not the numbers in the Poulain version - they are :
- Le Dey d`Alger frappe le representant de la France
- Napoleon embrasse le drapeau de sa garde a Fontainebleau