You may not have immediately seen the connection here, but if you look at the picture you will see that the small boy has extracted of the springs from beneath the seat of the best sofa and is having of a wonderful time.
He was lucky though, for not all springs are of this coil shape, some are simply long, and others are the sort with a hook at each end like you get on a sun bed.
This small boy is Henry, a hairless child, mute, and sometimes even mouthless, who was the creation of the American Carl Anderson, and immortalised on five sets, each of fifty large sized cards, by J Wix, plus on postcards, using selected images from the first and second series.
They first appear in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, as :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See Ha.625. Special albums issued... W72-3
- "A Series of ..." Numbered
A. Large. Back "A Series of 50", adhesive
B. Extra-large. Back "A Series of 25"- "2nd Series of..." - Numbered.
A. Large. Back "2nd Series of 50", adhesive, inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large. Back "A 2nd Series of 25".- 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. No full stop after "Copyright Reserved"
- 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved"
- 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after "Copyright Reserved"
This is slightly altered in our modern World Tobacco Issues Index, to :
HENRY. Lg. 77 x 64 (special albums issued) and Extra-Lg. 144 x 99. See H.625. ... W805-060
- "A Series of ..." Numbered
A. Large. Back "A Series of 50", adhesive
B. Extra-large. Back "A Series of 25"- "2nd Series of..." - Numbered.
A. Large. Back "2nd Series of 50", adhesive, inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large. Back "A 2nd Series of 25".- 3rd 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. Nothing after "Copyright Reserved"
- 4th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved" (except 1 card)
- 5th 50 subjects. Large. Unnd. With dash after "Copyright Reserved"
In our modern British Tobacco Issues Handbook, they are listed as :
H.625. HENRY (titled series). Fronts in colour.
Post 1920 - J. Wix - Home issues. Five series, as follows :-
- 1st Series - Numbered.
A. Large size, inscribed "A Series of 50". Adhesive back.
B. Extra-large size. inscribed "A Series of 25". Non adhesive back.- 2nd Series - Numbered.
A. Large size, inscribed "2nd Series of 50". Adhesive back.
inscribed at base (a) "Ask for the ..." (b) "Ask your tobacconist..."
B. Extra-large size. inscribed "2nd Series of 25". Non adhesive back.
Last line of text (a) "...throat" (b) "...your throat"- 3rd Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. No full stop after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-1
- 4th Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. With full stop after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front, except No.32, which has nothing. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-2
- 5th Series - Unnumbered. Large size, non-adhesive back. With dash after "Copyright Reserved" at base of front. 50 subjects illustrated in Fig. 625-3
Overseas :
American Tobacco Co. Medium size, Burdick T.78. Inscribed "Herbert Tareyton Cigarettes" without issuer`s name. U.S.A. 20th Century issue. 79 subjects are known, of which 25 are similar to Wix 1st, 9 to Wix 2nd, 17 to Wix 3rd, and 28 to Wix 4th. Unnumbered
A. Back inscribed "Tareyton`s finer quality ...
B. Back inscribed "A Cork tip" followed by
(a) "doesn`t get soggy"
(b) "doesn`t stick to the lips"
(c) "is always firm"
(d) prevents loose ends"
(e) "resists lipstick"Trade :
Just Henry International Boys Wear. British trade issue, post 1940. Large size. Numbered. Inscribed "Reproduced with the permission of J. Wix & Sons Ltd."
1. Inscribed "A series of 20 - 2nd edition". As Wix 1st Series Nos. 1-20 with sequence altered.