This card is another one which may have puzzled you, but this fine creature is a spring-bok, or a spring-buck, and they are renowned for springing in the air, with their backs arched and their feet held together, to a height of about ten feet, straight up in the air.
They also run pretty fast too, about fifty five miles an hour.
In our original reference book to the issues under the British American Tobacco Company this set is listed under Section XV "Other Issues in South Africa" as ;
394. OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Front in colour, Back in brown, in English and Afrikaans, with announcement that special album by the Warden of the Kruger National Park can be obtained; printers credit "C.T. Ltd." at base. Numbered series of 100. Anonymous issue, with letterpress on back. Two sizes of card ;-
A. Small cards, size 68 x 43 m/m
B. Large cards, size 76 x 57 m/m. There were two printings of this size, with album announcement ending (1) "...from your tobacconist." (2) "...from your tobacconist, providing stocks are available."
The identity of "C.T. Ltd" is not known, though it is sometimes suggested that it stands for Cape Town. I think there is a clue on another set though, the United Tobacco Companies (South) issue of "Pastel Plates", which were published by Cape Times Ltd, a newspaper first published in 1876, as the first daily paper in Southern Africa, and which soon became the main paper there. I am not saying this set was issued with the paper, but perhaps it was produced by their printers.
Our original World Tobacco Issues Index lists several similar sets at the back of the book, under "Anonymous issues, with letterpress on the back, without reference to tobacco", and also filing them under sub-section 3, for "Bi-lingual issues, English and Afrikaans". Out of the ten named issues, six cite the three names as appearing on the albums. The section starts by telling us that the cards were "Issued in S. Africa, through B.A.T., 1935-42", and catalogues our set as :
OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Nd. (100). See RB.21/394. Special album issued, inscribed with U.T.C., Westminster and Policansky Bros. names ... ZC1-6
A. Small, 68 x 43
B. Large, 76 x 57. Two printings, last words of album text (a) "...price from your tobacconist" (b) "from your tobacconist provided stocks are available. Possibly multi-backed.
In our updated version the listing is slightly different, namely :
OUR SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS. Nd. (100). See RB.21/394. Special album issued, inscribed with U.T.C., Westminster and Policansky Bros. names ... ZC01-550
A. Sm. 68 x 43
B. Lg. 76 x 57. Two printings, last words of album text
(a) "...price 3d. from your tobacconist" (
(b) "from your tobacconist provided stocks are available"
The removal of the wording "Possibly multi-backed" seems to suggest that a complete set could be collected with each of the two different album text wordings