This card is the second card on our calendar of known June issues - but it had actually already been issued, by Churchman, in October 1904.
This is another set with a complex story, not that you would know this from the entry in our original World Tobacco Issues Index, which just says :
- BEAUTIES - "CERF". (A). Sm. Unnd. (12). See H.57. ... E14-13
This is unaltered, too, in our updated version of this volume, save for a new card code, of E265-260.
The big story comes if we follow the trail of the "H" code. Now with the original World Tobacco Issues Index, that leads us to the original London Cigarette Card Company Handbook, published in 1950, and bound uniform with the catalogue of that year. The Handbook shows all twelve cards, and reads :
- H.57. BEAUTIES - "CERF". (adopted title). Code letters taken from Churchman, Edwards, Ringer & Bigg, Franklyn Davey. Fronts in colour. Unnumbered series of 12, illustrated in Fig.57
Pre-1919 - Churchman
Edwards, Ringer & Bigg
Franklyn Davey
Thanks to the catalogue which accompanies this volume, we know that the Churchman version was issued in October 1904 (and retailed, in 1950, at between 17/6 and 50/- a card, or £30 for a complete set) - that the Edwards, Ringer & Bigg version was issued a few months later in June 1905 (and retailed, oddly, for less - odds being between 10/- and 30/- , and sets at just £20) - and that the Franklyn Davey version was circulated in 1905, without a month being recorded (and retailed at between 12/- and 35/- for odds and £22 for complete sets).
The fronts are identical in both sets, save the maker`s names, and only that one word "Churchman`s" (or "Ringer`s) alters. However the backs are very different, as the Churchman version is completely blank. And as for the Franklyn Davey one, that says "Loadstone" in the space - and it actually has an advert back.
Now the "H" code in the updated World Tobacco Issues Index leads us somewhere else, that being our own Handbook. This also adds a twist, for the listing reads :
- H.57. BEAUTIES - "CERF". (adopted title). Code letters taken from Churchman, Edwards, Ringer & Bigg, Franklyn Davey. Fronts in colour. Unnumbered series of 12, illustrated in Fig.57.
An anonymous set, possibly proofs, is known, with plain back and an empty name panel at the base of the front.
Pre-1919 - Churchman
Edwards, Ringer & Bigg
Franklyn Davey
This also has pictures, but they are darker than the ones above, possibly because they were copied from that volume. I may even find the original block, one day, which would have appeared in a copy of the London Cigarette Card Company`s "Cigarette Card News".