Card of the Day - 2025-05-19

Faulkner Police Terms
W. & F. FAULKNER [tobacco : UK - London] "Police Terms" - untitled (1899) Un/12 - F150-270 : F14-12 : Ha.165

This gave us the final element, the police. Though I imagine this poor chap would have a much less pleasant working environment than his Canadian counterparts. No wonder he looks a bit glum. 

If he had thought about it though, he could have joined a British mounted police squad, for there had been one, since October 1763, called The Bow Street Horse Patrol. These were, surprisingly, not policemen, but they were formed directly to combat highwaymen, and were a night force only. To begin with there were less than ten men, and they were each given a sword, a pistol and a club, which would develop in size and name into becoming a truncheon. They were a development of the Bow Street Runners, the first UK police force, but they had no jurisdiction in London, they could only apprehend the highwaymen from its outskirts, along the turnpike roads. After a year the grant to support them was stopped and they disbanded, all but two men, who were presumed to be of use to Bow Street Magistrates Court, should a felon abscond on the way to their proceedings. However, in 1805 a mounted patrol was started again, mainly because in their absence highwaymen had again swelled in number. This incarnation saw about fifty men but again they were only to patrol outside London, after dark, and they often reached right down into the Home Counties and back in one night`s patrol. They also had a new uniform, a red waistcoat under a blue greatcoat. 

Then, in 1839 this patrol became part of the Metropolitan Police, as their mounted branch.

This set is first described by us in our original reference book to the issues of W. & F. Faulkner, RB.1, which was published in 1942. The listing is as follows : 

  • 1899.     12 POLICE TERMS (untitled series). Size 2 3/4" x 1 1/2". Unnumbered. Fronts, lithographed in colour, no marginal lines. "Terms" below subject. "Grenadier Cigarettes, " "W. & F. Faulkner Ltd., London, S.E." below subjects, in black. Backs plain. Printed by A. Hildesheimer & Co. Subjects numbered here for convenience ; - 
  1. A Smart Capture.
  2. Guardian of the Peace.
  3. Investigating a Mystery.
  4. On The beat.
  5. One of the best. 
  6. Pass along, please.
  7. Point Duty.
  8. Police Court.
  9. Rabbit again
  10. Stop thief
  11. The thin blue line.
  12. Where duty calls,

The H.165 link takes us to the original London Cigarette Card Company Catalogue and Handbook for 1950, however it merely links to the above, saying : 

  • H.165. POLICE TERMS (Faulkner) - See Society Booklet No.1 page 10

By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index the entry has been reduced, to 

  • POLICE TERMS. (A). Unnd. (12).  See Ha.165  ... F14-12

This is virtually the same in the updated version, but the handbook link and card code are altered, to : 

  • POLICE TERMS. (A). Unnd. (12).  See H.165  ... F150-270

This handbook is ours, but it alters the numbering system, moving "A Smart Capture" to position 10 instead of position 1. Unfortunately that then re-numbers cards one to nine as well. Which is a little reminder that you should always write the name of the card on the wants lists you send to dealers, and not just quote a number from the reference books.

The full text is :

  • H.165   POLICE TERMS (adopted title). Fronts in colour. Issued by Faulkner. Unnumbered series of 12 ; -  
  1. Guardian of the Peace.
  2. Investigating a Mystery.
  3. On The beat.
  4. One of the best. 
  5. Pass along, please.
  6. Point Duty.
  7. Police Court.
  8. Rabbit again
  9. A Smart Capture.
  10. Stop Thief.
  11. The thin blue line.
  12. Where duty calls,